Take-Two Interactive is a publishing parent company on a monolithic scale, with assets in excess of $15 billion USD. It owns two major publishing labels itself, Rockstar Games and 2K, and brought in a net income (after covering all operating expenses) of more than $1 billion in 2023 alone. It should come as no surprise, then, that the company is insisting that slapping a $50 price tag on Red Dead Redemption’s PS4 port is «commercially accurate».
For a straight port, not a remaster, did we mention that? No enhancements outside of text in additional languages (which, you know, is something). No 60 frames-per-second upgrade, enhanced assets, or resolution boost, nada, as far as we can tell. These kinds of things have largely become expected for re-releases in this day and age, and fans and players aren’t having any of it.
Speaking to IGN, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick minced no words, declaring: «That’s just what we believe is the commercially accurate price for it.»
It’s a bold strategy, but the depressing truth is that people will likely buy it at that price point regardless; such is the power of nostalgia and the mastery and allure of Rockstar Games. We take some comfort in the timing of this announcement, which just shows how entirely out of touch the powers that be are with the current sentiment of players on the ground.
How many times have we dragged on about Baldur’s Gate 3 in the past week alone (6, and many more guides), about the records it’s breaking on both PC and on PS5, how it’s already reckoned one of the best games ever made? You could pick it up for just $10 more on PS5, for example, as a way of demonstrating the preposterousness of Mr Zelnick’s statement (and supporting an independent studio in the process). These are obviously very different games, appealing to different audiences, but it makes Take-Two look mean in comparison.