When does Red Dead 2 PC unlock?

Red Dead Redemption 2 PC release time — (Image credit: Rockstar)

Red Dead Redemption 2 is out now on PC, available through the Rockstar Games launcher and the Epic Games store. While we're not ready to publish our review just yet—we didn't get early access to the PC build beyond a hands-on event last week—we'll have some first impressions on the PC port up later today. In the meantime, here's everything you need to get started with Red Dead Redemption 2's PC version.

What do I need to play Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC?

You can get RDR2 on either the Rockstar Games launcher or the Epic Games Store. It's available for preload already, which is a good thing because Red Dead 2 weighs in at a 109 gigabyte download, and wants you to have 150GB of free drive space to install. Set aside some extra drive space for future Red Dead Online downloads, too.

As for whether your PC can handle it: Check out our system requirements post, which recommends at least a GTX 1060 graphics card to run the game well. But as with GTA 5, the PC version of RDR2 has some advanced graphics settings not available on consoles that should push modern hardware to the limits. In fact, if you want to play at 60fps, Nvidia recommends an RTX 2060.

When is Red Dead Redemption 2 available on Steam?

If you plan to play on Steam, though, you have to wait: RDR2 comes to Steam in December. We don't know which day it'll hit Steam, but Rockstar confirmed the release month when it announced Red Dead was coming to PC.

Wes has been covering games and hardware for more than 10 years, first at tech sites like The Wirecutter and Tested before joining the PC Gamer team in 2014. Wes plays a little bit of everything, but he'll always jump at the chance to cover emulation and Japanese games.

When he's not obsessively optimizing and re-optimizing a tangle of conveyor belts in Satisfactory (it's really becoming a problem), he's probably playing a 20-year-old Final Fantasy or some opaque ASCII roguelike. With a focus on writing and editing features, he seeks out personal stories and in-depth histories from the corners of PC gaming and its niche communities. 50% pizza by volume (deep dish, to be specific).