The possibility of Red Dead Redemption 2 on Nintendo Switch

Red Dead Redemption 2, is already considered a modern-time western classic, 5 years after its initial release. By now, many players have completed the campaign and experienced the emotional ride the story offers. Although most players likely played the game on their PC, Xbox, or PlayStation, some who haven’t yet played it might wonder whether the game is available on the Nintendo Switch.

The answer, unfortunately, is no. Red Dead Redemption 2 is not available on Nintendo Switch.

You may be wondering why, and while there is no real confirmation from Rockstar Games, Nintendo’s ex-president Reggie Fils-Aimé did explain it back in 2018.

According to Fils-Aimé, Red Dead Redemption 2 is not on the Switch because the existence of Nintendo Switch was not publicly discussed about during RDR2’s early development. Therefore, the timing was not right for it to be on the Switch.

But to be real, the most probable reason why RDR2 is not on the Switch is because of the lack of power packed into the Switch.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a massive open-world experience with stunning graphics and a whole bunch of intricate details. The PlayStation 4 and the Xbox One have way more power and storage capability available to render that world than the Switch has. For this reason, Rockstar probably never even had the thought to try to make the game work on Nintendo Switch during its development phase.

However, the first Red Dead Redemption game was released on the Nintendo Switch on October 13, 2023, 13 years after its original release on Xbox360 and PlayStation 3 in 2010. Before its Switch release, there was confusion about the game—some believed it was the sequel—which led to some false claims and rumors flying around.

Rockstar Games does not seem to prioritize Nintendo releases

To be fair, though, Rockstar Games hasn’t had the best development history with the Switch.

In 2021, the company released Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition on Nintendo Switch, which consisted of the three classic Grand Theft Auto games: GTA III, GTA Vice City, and GTA San Andreas. However, this release was plagued with game-breaking glitches that Rockstar has yet to fix, even after two years. As a result, some consider this release to be the worst game release in the history of Nintendo Switch.

The possibility of Red Dead Redemption 2 on Switch in the future

Red Dead Redemption 2 will, most likely, not come to Nintendo Switch in the future. Rockstar Games is probably not considering putting in the effort it would take to make the game run smoothly on the Switch.

The Nintendo Switch has been out for a while now, and rumors suggest it may be replaced by a more powerful console in the near future. Due to this, it is possible that Rockstar Games is considering the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 on Nintendo’s next-generation console, which is rumored to be as powerful as the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. However, neither Nintendo nor Rockstar has confirmed this yet.

For the time being, we will have to settle for playing Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC, Xbox, or PlayStation. Or, play its prequel (but technically, it is a sequel…) on the Nintendo Switch.