Red Dead Redemption Xbox upgrade isn’t free despite Rockstar saying it is

Red Dead Redemption Xbox upgrade isn’t free despite Rockstar saying it is Michael Beckwith Published December 2, 2025 12:26pm Updated December 2, 2025 12:26pm Share this article via whatsappShare this article via xCopy the link to this article.Link is copiedShare this article via facebook Comment now Comments Something’s gone very wrong here (Rockstar)

The newly launched Red Dead Redemption upgrade is free for existing players on PlayStation and Switch, but not Xbox, for some reason.

While there’s still no sign of the long-rumoured current-gen ports of Red Dead Redemption 2, the original Red Dead Redemption is available for PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S as of today (as well as iOS, Android, and Netflix).

Even better, it’s a free upgrade for anyone who already owns the game on last-gen hardware. So, PlayStation 4 owners can get the game free on PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch owners can get it for free on Switch 2.

The situation’s a little more complicated for Xbox owners, though. In fact, it’s so complicated that despite its promise, developer Rockstar Games is telling some people that the free Xbox upgrade isn’t free at all.

Over on the Red Dead Redemption subreddit, there are multiple threads of people expressing confusion that, for whatever reason, they can’t claim their free upgrade of the game on Xbox Series X/S.

One Redditor, Frequent_Health_8113, contacted Rockstar Support for an explanation and shared their response. According to Rockstar, this is because people are trying to upgrade their Xbox 360 versions of the game.

‘Please note that the next-gen upgrade is not free for owners of the Xbox 360 version,’ reads the support message. ‘Rockstar released a new version optimised for Xbox Series X/S, which is considered a separate purchase.’

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Red Dead Redemption Free upgrade doesn't apply to xbox 360 version. byu/Frequent_Health_8113 inreddeadredemption

We initially thought this made sense, since, of course, people wouldn’t be able to upgrade the Xbox 360 version. They’d need the Xbox One version… except Red Dead Redemption was never ported to Xbox One. Not even in 2023 when it came to PlayStation 4 and Switch.

The only way to play Red Dead Redemption on Xbox One is digitally through the original Xbox 360 version via backwards compatibility. Ergo, it’s the only version that can be upgraded to the Xbox Series X/S version.

What’s even stranger is that the support message directly contradicts Rockstar’s original announcement. The message states that ‘Backward compatible titles do not automatically upgrade to next gen versions unless the publisher offers a free upgrade programme.’

That is precisely what Rockstar promised: ‘Current owners on PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, or the digital backward compatible version on Xbox One will be able to upgrade digitally for free.’

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So, is Rockstar welching on its promise or is it a bug that needs fixing? At the time of writing, there’s no clear answer from Rockstar, but one prevailing theory is that the support message was written with AI, which would explain the contradictor info.

In a separate thread, keyblaster52 shared their own response from Rockstar Support, which lends credence to the theory that a person didn’t write it.

It starts off by saying that, yes, anyone who owns the digital backwards compatible version of Red Dead Redemption is entitled to a free Xbox Series X/S upgrade.

However, it later backtracks on this, saying, ‘This entitlement does not extend to the Xbox 360 digital version.’

Some fans are calling this a highway robbery (Rockstar)

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