Red Dead Redemption 2

Red Dead Redemption 2

Developers
	Rockstar Games
Engines
	RAGE
Release dates
Windows	November 5, 2019

Key points

PС version features graphical and technical improvements, as well as additional in-game content.

General information

Official website

Official support page

Availability

Source	DRM	Notes	Keys	OS
Official website		Special Edition and Ultimate Edition also available.
Epic Games Store		Special Edition and Ultimate Edition also available.
GamersGate		Special Edition and Ultimate Edition also available.
Gamesplanet		Special Edition and Ultimate Edition also available.
Green Man Gaming		Special Edition and Ultimate Edition also available.
Humble Store		Special Edition and Ultimate Edition also available.

All versions require Rockstar Games Launcher DRM.

Version differences

Pre-orders through Rockstar Games platforms included the Outlaw Survival Kit, War Horse, Treasure Map, Cash Bonus for Story Mode, 50 Gold Bars for Red Dead Online, and Rockstar games of choice.
Pre-purchasing through other stores granted 25 Gold Bars for Red Dead Online.

Special Edition includes the following Story Mode content: Bank Robbery Mission and Gang Hideout, Dappled Black Thoroughbred, Nuevo Paraiso Gunslinger Outfit, Talismans & Medallion gameplay bonuses, gameplay boosts, cash bonuses & discounts, and free access to additional weapons.

Ultimate Edition includes all Special Edition content, and the following for Red Dead Online: bonus outfits & free Survivor Camp Theme, Black Chestnut Thoroughbred, free access to additional weapons, and rank bonuses.

Essential improvements

Skip intro videos

Use modified files to skip intro videos Download the Legal Screen Skip mod. Unpack the archive and copy the files to <path-to-game>.

Increased TAA Sharpening

Modify <sharpenIntensity value="1.000000" /> in settings.xml Open settings.xml in a text editor (such as Notepad++). Settings.xml is found in %USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rockstar Games\Red Dead Redemption 2\Settings. Find <sharpenIntensity value="1.000000" />. Change <sharpenIntensity value="1.000000" /> to <sharpenIntensity value="3.800000" />. Save and close settings.xml.

Changing <sharpenIntensity value="1.000000" /> should lead to no reduction in game performance.

Opening the game's Graphics settings will revert changes made in settings.xml. Setting settings.xml to read only will result in sharpening being reset to it's default value until restarting the game.

<sharpenIntensity value="1.000000" /> values higher than 10 are not recommended.

Game data

Configuration file(s) location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rockstar Games\Red Dead Redemption 2\Settings\
Linux (Proton)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1174180/pfx/

Save game data location

System	Location
Windows	%USERPROFILE%\Documents\Rockstar Games\Red Dead Redemption 2\Profiles\<user-id>\
Linux (Proton)	<Steam-folder>/steamapps/compatdata/1174180/pfx/

Save game cloud syncing

System	Native	Notes
Epic Games Store
Steam Cloud

Supports save game files syncing with the Rockstar Games cloud.

Video settings

Graphics settings.

Graphics feature	State	Notes
Widescreen resolution
Multi-monitor		Hor+ gameplay, windowboxed cinematics, pillarboxed elements. Use this tool as a workaround at own risk.
Ultra-widescreen		Hor+ gameplay, windowboxed cinematics, various pillarboxed scenes. Use this tool as a workaround at own risk.
4K Ultra HD
Field of view (FOV)		Sliders with 11 positions for the third person and first person views. Use this tool for further FOV adjustment at own risk.
Windowed
Borderless fullscreen windowed
Anisotropic filtering (AF)		x2/x4/x8/x16.
Anti-aliasing (AA)		TAA Medium/High, FXAA toggle, MSAA x2/x4/x8, SSAA through Resolution Scale.
Vertical sync (Vsync)		Includes a Half the refresh rate option.
60 FPS and 120+ FPS		Frame rate is capped at 256 FPS. Core attributes' drain rate and weight loss rate may increase with FPS.
High dynamic range display (HDR)
Color blind mode		Protanopia, Deuteranopia, or Tritanopia.

• 

  Display settings.

• 

  Camera settings.

Input settings

Keyboard and Mouse settings.

Key remapping options.

Controller settings.

Keyboard and mouse	State	Notes
Remapping		Key Mapping option appears within Keyboard & Mouse settings only at gameplay. Up to two keys per action.
Mouse acceleration		Adjustable Mouse Smoothing with 3 positions.
Mouse sensitivity		Separate sliders with 21 positions for the third person and first person Look and Aim.
Mouse input in menus
Mouse Y-axis inversion
Controller
Controller support
Full controller support		Relies on Rockstar Games Launcher, preventing direct launch from the Steam Big Picture mode.
Controller remapping		12 presets for each view.
Controller sensitivity		Separate sliders with 15 positions for the third person and first person Look and Aim. Acceleration and Dead Zone adjustment.
Controller Y-axis inversion

Controller types

XInput-compatible controllers
Xbox button prompts
Impulse Trigger vibration

DualShock 4 controllers
DualShock button prompts
Light bar support
Connection modes	unknown

Tracked motion controllers

Generic/other controllers

Additional information
Controller hotplugging
Haptic feedback		Vibration toggle.
Simultaneous controller+KB/M

Audio settings

Audio settings.

Audio feature	State	Notes
Separate volume controls		Sound, Score, Dialogue Balance, and Voice Chat.
Surround sound		Presets for distance between front and between rear speakers.
Subtitles		Options to limit to Mission Only and to toggle Speaker Name display.
Closed captions
Mute on focus lost		As the Pause Game on Focus Loss toggle within the Graphics settings. Online mode is unaffected.

Localizations

Game language is tied to that of the Rockstar Games launcher, selectable through its Settings.

Language	UI	Audio	Sub	Notes
English
Simplified Chinese
Traditional Chinese
French
German
Italian
Japanese
Korean
Polish
Portuguese
Brazilian Portuguese
Russian
Spanish

Network

General settings.

Multiplayer types

Type	Native	Players	Notes
Local play
LAN play
Online play		32	Co-op, Versus Up to 4 players in co-op.

Connection types

Type	Native	Notes
Matchmaking

VR support

3D modes	Native	Notes
vorpX		Z3D, DirectVR Officially supported profile, see here.

Issues unresolved

Incorrect map marker placement

Waypoints and markers may not get placed at the mouse cursor position on the in-game map.

Double-click the desired location to create a waypoint

No exclusive fullscreen

The Fullscreen mode of the game acts as a maximized borderless window, resulting in concerns among G-Sync monitor users.

DirectX 12 does not support exclusive fullscreen but sets to maintain its expected benefits to performance.

Issues fixed

Game crashing

The game may crash on launch, resulting in the "Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC exited unexpectedly" error message.

Temporarily disable anti-virus software or add the game folder to its list of scan exclusions. A November 6, 2019 game update addresses the crashing related to anti-virus software.

See the related Rockstar Games support articles containing possible solutions. Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC exited unexpectedly RDR2 on PC General Troubleshooting

Possible workarounds exist for crashes on launch related to having set the Graphics API to DirectX 12.

Install DirectX Graphics Tools on Windows 10 Use the taskbar search functionality to locate Manage optional features. In the newly opened window, click on Add a feature. Find Graphics Tools on the list, click on it and select Install.

Set the Graphics API to Vulkan in the config file Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open settings.xml in a text editor. Locate kSettingAPI_DX12 and change it to kSettingAPI_Vulkan Alternatively, move the file from the folder to reset the game settings.

Launcher crashing

Attempting to launch the game may result in the "Rockstar Launcher exited unexpectedly" error message.

On Windows 10, make sure the system is updated to version 1903.

Update BIOS at own risk Updating the BIOS has been reported to have helped a number of AMD chipset users. Unintended interruptions and user errors in the process of BIOS flashing may render the computer unusable. A November 8, 2019 launcher update addresses issues related to AMD CPUs.

Set audio output device to Nvidia High Definition Audio On Windows 10, right-click the speaker icon in the tray on the taskbar and select Open Sound settings. Under Output, select the NVIDIA High Definition Audio device. Only applies to Nvidia graphics cards.

'ERR_GFX_STATE' after loading game

This error message has been reported to appear after the November 13, 2019 game update.

Clear graphics cache files Go to the configuration file(s) location. Delete all files beginning with sga_ (e.g. sga_vulkan_final_init.vkPipelineCacheWindows). Launch the game and load the current save game. Move the character to a different area and make a new save.

Game stuttering

Multiple players have reported in-game stuttering related to high CPU usage.

Use the -cpuLoadRebalancing command line argument Go to Settings within the Rockstar Games Launcher. Click on Red Dead Redemption 2 under My installed games. Add -cpuLoadRebalancing to Launch arguments. Implemented by Rockstar Games to rebalance workload on the CPU cores and address the issue of stuttering. BES, Process Lasso and other external solutions previously used to address the problem should be disabled.

Enable asynchronous compute through the config file Go to the configuration file(s) location. Open settings.xml in a text editor. Locate the <asyncComputeEnabled value="false" /> line and change false to true Save the file.

Change in-game graphics API to DirectX 12 Go to the Settings menu in the game. Open the Graphics settings. Scroll down to the Advanced Graphics section. Toggle the Advanced Settings option to "Unlocked". Change the Graphics API setting to "DirectX 12". Apply the settings and restart the game. Possibility of decreased performance compared to Vulkan.

Persistent mouse cursor

The system mouse cursor may persistently appear on top of the game window.

Commonly reported by owners of the Epic Games Store version of the game.

Install update KB4522741 on Windows 10 Search for and click on Check for updates using the taskbar search functionality. In the newly opened window, click on Check for updates and fully update the operating system.

Remove overlay files of the Epic Games launcher Go to C:\Program Files (x86)\Epic Games\Launcher\Portal\Extras\Overlay\ Move EOSOverlayRenderer-Win32-Shipping.exe, EOSOverlayRenderer-Win64-Shipping.exe, EOSOVH-Win32-Shipping.dll and EOSOVH-Win64-Shipping.dll to a different folder for personal backup. In order to use the overlay in other games or avoid unexpected launcher behavior, move the files back to the original location when the workaround is no longer required.

Display mouse pointer trails On Windows 10, search for and click on Mouse settings using the taskbar search functionality. On the right sidebar, click on Additional mouse options. Select the Pointer Options tab. Under Visibility, click on Display pointer trails to check its box. Click on OK to apply the change. Launch the game and enable VSync in the Graphics settings. Hides the cursor in the game, resulting in inability to use it to navigate menu screens unless the box is unchecked again.

Incorrect resolution at launch

The game may start at an incorrect resolution, resulting in out-of-screen elements and inability to reach the graphics settings.

Use the -width and -height command line arguments Go to Settings within the Rockstar Games Launcher. Click on Red Dead Redemption 2 under My installed games. Add -width 1920 -height 1080 as Launch arguments or change the width and height values as desired.

Disable Nvidia DSR Only applies to Nvidia graphics cards.

Incorrect map display at 48:9

The in-game map might scale incorrectly at 48:9 multi-monitor resolutions.

Set Screen Type to Windowed Borderless in the Graphics settings

Water flickering

Increase Water Refraction quality in the Graphics settings menu

Other information

API

Technical specs	Supported	Notes
Direct3D	12
Vulkan	1.1

Executable	32-bit	64-bit	Notes
Windows

Middleware

	Middleware	Notes
Cutscenes	Bink Video

Command line arguments

Command	Notes
-cpuLoadRebalancing	Rebalances workload on the CPU cores - used to avoid in-game stalling.
-scofflineonly	Disables the Social Club online functionality in the game.
-safemode	Starts the game with minimum settings for troubleshooting.
-width X	Sets the game display width to X.
-height Y	Sets the game display height to Y.
-fullscreen	Forces the game to launch in Fullscreen mode.

Game progress overview online

Red Dead Redemption 2 overview on Rockstar Games Social Club Detailed personal progress tracking including actual time played, per-mission information, challenges, achievements, compendium entries, and player statistics in the Story and Online modes. Allows to browse through the in-game store catalogue and order items without launching the game.

System requirements

Windows
	Minimum	Recommended
Operating system (OS)	7 SP1	10 (v1803)
Processor (CPU)	Intel Core i5-2500K AMD FX-6300	Intel Core i7-4770K AMD Ryzen 5 1500X
System memory (RAM)	8 GB	12 GB
Hard disk drive (HDD)	150 GB
Video card (GPU)	Nvidia GeForce GTX 770 AMD Radeon R9 280 2 GB (Nvidia), 3 GB (AMD) of VRAM	Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 AMD Radeon RX 480 6 GB (Nvidia), 4 GB (AMD) of VRAM
Sound (audio device)	DirectX compatible

Independent benchmarks indicate that meeting the recommended system requirements is not enough for 60 FPS at 1080p at the High and Ultra graphics settings.