Well rustle my hard drive, Red Dead Redemption 2 is finally on PC. Yee-haw, and all that. Thing is, some gunslingers out there are spreading word that this ain’t the sturdiest horse they’ve seen. From loading screen crashes to problems with Rockstar’s game launcher, RDR 2 on PC is proving to be a grumpy ol’ mule indeed.

While a few porting issues were to be expected, some frequent issues are shooting would-be cowpokes right in the foot before they ever saddle-up. One of these seems to be tied directly to Rockstar’s proprietary launcher. RDR2 hit the Rockstar and Epic Games store earlier today, but won’t launch on Steam for another month.

While plenty of folks find themselves stubbornly avoiding the Epic Games Store, they might want to hold off on Rockstar’s own for the time being. Players have reported that the launcher is crashing before launching RDR2, or even failing to recognise that you’ve purchased the game.

The problems don’t end once the game loads, either. Others have reported problems loading into the game, either on the startup loading screens or when trying to access Red Dead Online. Both RDR2 and the Rockstar launcher have reportedly been hard crashing with “exited unexpectedly” screens.

Disgruntled cowpokes are compiling a list of RDR2’s more glaring issues – and fixes – as they find them over on Reddit through a launch issues mega-thread. If you’re struggling to get a solid framerate or crashing on a certain splash screen, there are already a few game-saving fixes available over there.

Rockstar’s support account on Twitter has also suggested making sure your drivers are updated, as that seems to be a frequent cause of crashes. Make sure to ride safe out there, y’hear?

Or if you can’t get it to stop crashing at all, check out our stream from earlier today while you wait for the inevitable patches.



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[Disclosure: Like fellow RPS Edinburgh-er Alice O, a good chunk of my mates work at Rockstar North – including my long-term partner and our current flatmate. So far, none have told me why there’s never been a sequel to Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis.]