Rockstar announces Red Dead Redemption 2 for Windows

Rockstar Games has announced that, unlike its predecessor, Red Dead Redemption 2 is heading to Windows PCs - and it's throwing in two free games to convince buyers to pick it up through its newly-launched Rockstar Games Launcher.

Red Dead Redemption, the second game in the Red Dead franchise following 2004's reworked Gun.Smoke sequel Red Dead Revolver, launched in 2010 as a console exclusive spaghetti-western-'em-up which proved to be more than Grand Theft Horsie. A planned sequel was delayed, then delayed again before finally launching in 2008 followed by its multiplayer component.

Like its predecessor, Red Dead Redemption 2 launched as a console-exclusive title but was dogged by rumours that it would be heading to PCs at some indeterminate point in the future. Now, Rockstar Games has declared those rumours true and determined the very date: November 5th.

Interestingly, Rockstar has eschewed a timed exclusivity deal with Epic Games to list the title on the Epic Games Store - for the very good reason that it's hoping to push buyers into picking it up on the Rockstar Games Launcher instead, from which it will receive 100 percent of the revenue instead of Epic's 88 percent offering. To help nudge people in that direction, the company has confirmed that anyone pre-ordering the game via the Rockstar Games Launch from when sales open on October 9th through to October 22nd will be able to choose two free games from a partial collection of its back-catalogue titles: Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, Bully: Scholarship Edition, L.A. Noire: The Complete Edition, or Max Payne 3: The Complete Edition. Pre-orders will also be upgraded to the Premium Edition as standard, while the cost of going to the Special or Ultimate Editions will be reduced. Finally, pre-order customers will also receive various in-game bonuses, most of which apply to the game's single-player mode alongside 50 Gold Bars, the in-game currency, for the multiplayer mode.

The game isn't to be a Rockstar Games Launcher exclusive, though: The company has confirmed the title will also be pre-orderable on the Epic Games Store, the Humble Store, Greenman Gaming, GameStop, and 'additional digital retailers,' but that pre-orders will only open on October 23rd; additionally, the only pre-order bonus for these versions will be 25 Gold Bars. The game is also coming to Steam, but on a month's delay: The Steam release won't be available until December, Rockstar has confirmed.

The biggest news, however, is that Rockstar is officially supporting Google's Stadia game-streaming service: Red Dead Redemption 2 will be available as a launch title when the service opens this November, the company has confirmed.

More information is available from the official announcement.