Take-Two CEO Says Red Dead Redemption Port Pricing Is ‘Commercially Accurate’

Yesterday, Take-Two Interactive and Rockstar Games announced that Red Dead Redemption and zombie add-on Undead Nightmare is being ported to Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 on Aug. 17.

And while that may have been cause for celebration for many in the fanbase, others took issue with its $50 price point, especially considering it’s missing multiplayer and a PC release. Plus, it’s already playable on the Xbox Series X in 4k and, thanks to Xbox Series X/S’ backwards compatibility, has been accessible on Microsoft platforms for years.

After today’s Take-Two earnings call, IGN asked CEO Strauss Zelnick why they priced the newly announced port the way they did, especially given the backwards compatibility situation for Xbox.

“That’s just what we believe is the commercially accurate price for it,” Zelnick responded.

Take-Two’s EVP of Finance, Hannah Sage, also pointed out that the port isn’t just the Red Dead base game, but also Undead Nightmare. When asked if Undead Nightmare was the reason for its $50 price, Zelnick said the add-on “was a great standalone game in its own right when it was originally released, so we feel like it’s a great bundle for the first time, and certainly a great value for consumers.”

IGN did ask him about a potential PC release, but Zelnick left it vague, saying he leaves game release announcements up to the developers. Pressed further about the logic behind ports vs. remasters vs. remakes, Zelnick said:

“It depends on the vision that the creative teams have for a title, and in the absence of having a powerful vision, for something that we would do with a title, we might bring it in its original form, we’ve done that, and in certain instances we might remaster or remake, so it really depends on the title and how the label feels about it, the platform, and what we think the opportunity is for consumers.”

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.