Sometime later this year, Rockstar will release another set of patches for both GTA Online and Red Dead Online. In the former case, the studio claims the update for GTA Online will be its biggest ever and will see the company revisit heists as well as add a new location to the game. Meanwhile, Red Dead Online players can look forward to Rockstar expanding an existing role.   

With just how popular GTA Online continues to be, it’s not surprising to find out Rockstar plans to continue supporting the title. However, Red Dead Online is a different story. Before today’s announcement, Rockstar hadn’t meaningfully updated the game in about seven months, leading some fans to worry the studio had moved on. As Polygon notes, players tried to draw attention to the content drought by dressing up as clowns in-game. Whether the stunt worked is hard to say, but those players will probably appreciate today’s news all the same.

As expected, Rockstar’s Grand Theft Auto 5 is the Epic Games Store’s latest free game. Starting today through to May 21st, you can download the 2013 open-world game for without paying anything — provided you’re willing to install the Epic Games Store launcher on your PC or Mac, of course.

Once you’ve claimed your copy of GTA 5, you’ll also want to check out the rest of the store. That’s because a lot of the games that are available through the Epic Games Store, including many of its exclusives, are on sale until June 11th. You can get up to 50 percent off games like Control, Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Outer Worlds. Additionally, Epic is giving everyone a free coupon. You can use it to get a $10 discount on games that cost $14 or more. If you end up using the coupon, you’ll get another one when you complete a purchase.  

Xbox Game Pass is one of the best bargains in gaming. $14 a month gets you all the perks of Xbox Live Gold, plus a selection of about 100 on-demand games. The deal is getting even sweeter now that Red Dead Redemption 2 is coming to the subscription service. On May 7th, Rockstar’s hit action adventure title will join the Xbox Game Pass library on Xbox One, and the timing couldn’t be much better. Cabin fever is likely becoming a problem with those practicing social distancing, so an immersive game with a huge, open world could help quell some claustrophobia. The only downside is that it’s replacing Grand Theft Auto V, another extremely popular game from Rockstar.

Red Dead Redemption 2 had the most successful opening weekend, not just in gaming, but in entertainment in general, and was met with nearly universal acclaim. Rockstar has shipped nearly 30 million copies of the cowboy simulator, which puts it in the top 20 best-selling games of all time. If Xbox gamers haven’t checked it out yet, now may be the time to do so. Those who don’t have an Xbox One can also check out the PC version of the game, though it won’t be part of Xbox Game Pass.

It’s no secret that Houser helped preside over one of the most successful developers in gaming history. Between the Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead games, Rockstar has pulled in massive sales — in some cases thriving with titles that are several years old. Unlike some co-creators of very large studios, though, he still had a more direct hand in producing games. He was an executive producer and writer for Red Dead Redemption 2, for instance.

His commitment got him in trouble in recent years. When he boasted of 100-hour work weeks for RDR2, that led many to think he was referring to the entire studio. He later clarified that he was only referring to the senior writing team, but the initial statement led many to worry that Rockstar (and many other developers) was fostering an unhealthy work climate.

Rockstar won’t be in dire straits without Houser. It has a much larger team than it did when it was founded in 1998, and his brother will still play a key role. This could influence Rockstar’s game design process, though, even if it’s unlikely to make a radical change any time soon.

Rockstar’s multiplayer games apparently had a banner holiday, and the company is using that as an excuse to hand out goodies to players (and, conveniently, give them a reason to keep playing). GTA Online gamers will get $1 million in virtual currency if they play before February 5th, and can receive another $1 million more if they sign on between February 6th and February 12th. Red Dead Online players, meanwhile, can pick up a “Gunslinger’s Cache” with guns and ammo by February 3rd, or a “Bounty Hunter’s Kit” (with a license and gear) between February 4th and February 10th.

Games for Windows Live has caused a number of headaches since Microsoft began shutting things down in 2013. Developers have had to patch the platform out of their games to keep them running properly, including the Batman: Arkham series and Dark Souls. GTA4 has had its own problems, prompting gamers to develop workarounds to keep the game running smoothly.

There may be relief in sight. Rockstar said it was “looking at other options” for offering GTA4 on PCs, and planned to share more “as soon as [it] can.” Until, then, though, the withdrawal is a textbook example of why games shouldn’t be tied too closely to an outside platform. If that platform holder bows out for any reason, the game might suddenly lose a lot of its functionality. And when these shutdowns tend to happen long after the developers moved on, fixing that functionality could be a painful process.

Nintendo

Top product in 2009: Wii

Top product in 2019: Switch Lite

Progress report: In 2009, the Wii dominated the console market and changed the way people across the world interacted with video games. Today, the Switch and Switch Lite are on the same path, bridging the divide between living-room and mobile gaming. The House of Mario traditionally operates in its own universe, but that’s changing just a little. Nintendo launched its first service for online gaming in late 2018, and it’s been an early advocate of cross-console play, alongside Microsoft. Nintendo is still the home for strange and heartwarming gaming experiences with oddly restrictive policies, and it’s heading into 2020 with a strong console release at its back.

The last time it was in this position, Nintendo launched the Wii U. I’ll just leave it at that.

Activision Publishing

Top product in 2009: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

Top product in 2019: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare

Progress report: No, that’s not a typo. Activision may publish other games, but Call of Duty is the company’s main money maker, and the franchise keeps on delivering, even when the naming structure gets confusing. Call of Duty consistently outsells the competition, and Activision has established a multi-studio development structure that keeps the games coming annually. Activision remains a major name in AAA gaming, but in the future, it’s going mobile — the smartphone version of Call of Duty came out in October and saw more than 100 million downloads in its first month.

Call of Duty: Mobile also represents Tencent’s growing influence over the video game industry. Massive Chinese technology conglomerate Tencent has a 4.9 percent stake in Activision Blizzard, following the company’s split from its former owner, Vivendi, in 2013. Tencent owns or has a stake in Epic Games, Riot Games, Ubisoft, Bluehole, Supercell, Grinding Gear Games and Paradox Interactive. China’s video game market is nearly four times the size of the US audience, and partially due to a lack of Western consoles in the country, Chinese players are really into mobile gaming. Meanwhile, the Chinese government is really into censorship, and these partnerships have already resulted in a few troubling situations for Western studios.

Blizzard Entertainment

Top product in 2009: World of Warcraft

Top product in 2019: Overwatch

Progress report: Activision’s partner in profit is Blizzard. World of Warcraft was Blizzard Entertainment’s main concern in 2009, and 10 years later, it’s Overwatch. Blizzard has been running PC-focused franchises, such as StarCraft and Diablo, for well over a decade, and it’s now a hub for popular esports titles including Overwatch and Hearthstone. While World of Warcraft has lost a significant portion of its audience since 2009, Blizzard has picked up new players with friendly looking competitive games and flashy, story-driven YouTube animations. When all else fails, use the Pixar method.

Ubisoft

Top product in 2009: Assassin’s Creed II

Top product in 2019: Far Cry: New Dawn

Progress report: Ubisoft’s publishing business has shrunk significantly since the early 2010s, and instead of churning out Rabbids titles, licensed games and experiments like ZombiU, it’s focusing on just a handful of important IPs. Even then, it’s struggling — Ubisoft just delayed basically every game on its 2020 roster after the poor reception of The Division 2 and Ghost Recon Breakpoint, this year. Personally, I miss weird, free-wheeling Ubisoft, though I’m happy to leave The Expendables 2: The Video Game in the past.

Electronic Arts

Top product in 2009: FIFA 09

Top product in 2019: FIFA 2019

Progress report: You know when someone posts a 10-year challenge and you can’t tell which photo is supposed to be the new one? Yeah, that’s EA. In late 2008, EA launched FIFA 09, and in 2019, it’s all about FIFA 19 and FIFA 20. Or, replace “FIFA” with “Madden NFL,” or “NHL” or basically any other athletic organization. EA Sports remains a crucial brand for EA, and the company’s catalog hasn’t changed much overall in the past decade. It still handles The Sims, Battlefield and the sprawling RPG franchises that spawn out of BioWare. Apex Legends, an online competitive shooter, represents EA’s ability to adapt with the times. EA is publishing new, familiar titles while slowly evolving its online services. This business model isn’t necessarily sexy, but it just might be sustainable.

This won’t address glitches within Red Dead itself, but it is a start. It’s also an acknowledgment that the game industry’s attempts to reduce its dependency on Steam (and increase profit margins) can only go so far. Whether game creators like it or not, many gamers prefer to have all their games in one place — there’s a risk developers will miss out on sales by insisting on proprietary launchers, even if they make more money with each sale.

While it’s a bummer PC owners have had to wait a year to play the new Red Dead, the good news is that they’ll get to take advantage of all the additional work Rockstar has poured into the title. One good example is HDR. When Red Dead Redemption 2 first came out on consoles, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One owners noticed something strange with the game’s HDR implementation. An investigation by Digital Foundry eventually found that Red Dead‘s HDR mode did mostly nothing. Rockstar later fixed the feature when it released the game’s 1.09 patch this past May.

There are smaller graphical enhancements as well (all the screenshots in this article are from the PC release). According to the company, Red Dead Redemption 2 will feature increased draw distances, allowing you to see more of the game world than you can on the console version of the game. Additionally, Rockstar claims both day and night lighting, as well as shadows and reflections, look better. Lastly, plants and animals will look more realistic thanks to improved textures.

Rockstar also listed all the new side activities, horses and items it’s adding to the PC release. Highlights include some weapons that were previously exclusive to Red Dead Redemption 2‘s online multiplayer mode.

To play the game at its minimum settings, you’ll need a PC with components that meet the following baseline: an Intel Core i5-2500K or AMD FX-6300 processor, 8GB of RAM, and an Nvidia GTX 770 or AMD R9 280 graphics card.

For a smoother experience, Rockstar recommends an Intel Core i7-4770K or AMD Ryzen 5 1500X CPU, 12GB of RAM and an Nvidia GTX 1060 or AMD RX 480 GPU. Whether your PC meets the minimum or recommended specs, you’ll also need a massive 150GB of free space to install the game. For the best experience, Rockstar recommends playing the game on Windows 10, though it’ll also work with earlier versions of the operating system, including Windows 7. One thing to keep in mind is that Rockstar has specified what kind of experience the recommended spec will deliver. You’ll likely need a more powerful setup than the recommended configuration if you plan to play the game at both 4K and 60 frames per second.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is available to pre-order on the Rockstar Games Launcher starting today. If you pre-order the game directly from Rockstar, you’ll get two free games from the studio’s back catalog. The game will also come to Steam, but in December instead of November.

It’s a significant step for Rockstar — it’s a brand new PC version of a marquee title available through a streaming service. It’s also likely the closest you’ll get to having a mobile version of Rockstar’s modern games, at least for a while. RDR2 simply demands too much processing power and storage from current mobile devices to run natively — it might be worth dealing with a slight amount of lag to get the full experience on the go.