Rockstar Games has sparked confusion and frustration among Xbox gamers after failing to deliver a promised free upgrade for Red Dead Redemption on new consoles, directly contradicting its own official announcement.
The Upgrade Promise and PlayStation/Switch Clarity
As of December 2, 2025, the original Red Dead Redemption became available on PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Xbox Series X/S. Rockstar clearly stated that existing owners on last-gen platforms would receive a free digital upgrade. This has worked seamlessly for PlayStation 4 owners moving to PS5 and Nintendo Switch owners upgrading to the Switch 2.
However, the situation for Xbox players has proven to be markedly different and significantly more complicated, leading to what many are calling a broken promise from the developer.
Xbox Confusion and Contradictory Support Messages
On the game's subreddit, numerous players reported being unable to claim the free upgrade on their Xbox Series X/S consoles. One user, Frequent_Health_8113, contacted Rockstar Support and shared the baffling response.
The support agent claimed the upgrade was not free for owners of the Xbox 360 version, stating the new Series X/S version was a "separate purchase." This explanation immediately fell apart, as Red Dead Redemption was never released natively for Xbox One. The only way to play it on Xbox One, and by extension to be eligible for an upgrade, is via the digitally purchased, backward-compatible Xbox 360 version.
This support message directly contradicted Rockstar's original press release, which explicitly included "the digital backward compatible version on Xbox One" in the list of entitlements for a free upgrade.
AI-Generated Responses and Unresolved Issues
The contradictory and illogical nature of the support replies has led to a prevailing theory among the community: that the responses were generated by AI without proper oversight. This theory gained traction when another user, keyblaster52, shared a support reply that first confirmed the entitlement for backward-compatible owners, only to backtrack in the same message.
At the time of writing, Rockstar Games has not provided a clear, official explanation or solution. The central question remains: is this a technical bug that needs fixing, or is Rockstar reneging on its public commitment to Xbox players?
The lack of clarity has left a significant portion of the game's fanbase feeling misled, highlighting ongoing communication issues between major publishers and their customers regarding next-generation upgrade paths.
