The honest answer to for ps5 has changed at least once, which is why old threads disagree.

Short answer

Support exists where the publisher ships a native build; everything else is streaming or emulation with the trade-offs that implies.

A cut-down port is still a port, and the difference usually shows up in player counts rather than frame rates. Handheld versions often trail the main build by a full season. Most of the disagreement you will find online is two people describing different builds.

Which versions exist right now

Cloud streaming sidesteps the hardware question and introduces a latency one instead. Cross-progression carries your account; crossplay only puts you in the same lobby. If your result differs from what is described here, note what is different first rather than starting over. Some features are disabled per-platform for reasons that have nothing to do with performance.

Console certification adds weeks to every patch, which is why fixes land unevenly. Everything below is framed around the current state of Red Dead Redemption 2 rather than a launch-week impression. Store pages list supported platforms accurately; trailers do not.

How to check before you buy

Nothing here assumes a particular playstyle beyond wanting the thing to work. Red Dead Redemption 2 is not shy about hiding useful information two menus deep, so some of this is simply knowing where to look. Screenshots age faster than text, which is why this describes rather than shows.

  • Confirm whether your friends are on the same build, not just the same game.
  • Check the store page's supported-platforms box, not the trailer.
  • Read the whole sequence once before doing the first step.
  • Verify controller support separately from platform support.

Crossplay versus cross-progression

Treat anything stated without a version number as provisional. The awkward part is rarely the step itself, it is knowing which step comes first. The short version is near the top on purpose; the reasoning is there if you want to know why. None of this needs a paid tool, a third-party launcher or an account on a site you have never heard of.

Where something depends on your platform or region, that is called out rather than glossed over. If you are coming to this after a long break, the terminology has probably moved on. What follows assumes you are on a current install and have not modified it.

Streaming as a fallback

If a step reads as obvious, do it anyway — the obvious ones are the ones people skip and then wonder about. The developers have changed their mind about this at least once, which explains the older advice. It helps to understand why a step exists, because then you can adapt it when your situation is slightly different.

Where two approaches both work, the one with fewer moving parts is the one to keep. Do the cheap check before the expensive one — that ordering alone saves most of the frustration. There is no hidden trick here that the game is keeping from you.

What you lose on the smaller platforms

Anything that behaves differently on console than on PC is flagged where it matters. The community wisdom on this is roughly half right, and the half that is wrong costs the most time. A single check up front replaces a lot of guessing later.

Where people go wrong

  • Rushing the last step, which is usually the one with the actual requirement in it.
  • Copying a setup wholesale from a streamer without understanding what each part does.
  • Skipping the prerequisite because it looked optional in someone else's summary.

RDR2 FAQ

Does my progress carry across platforms?

That is cross-progression, and it needs to be linked through the publisher account before you start playing on the second device.

Does this work the same on console and PC?

The logic is identical. Menu paths and button prompts differ, and any real difference is flagged above.

Will Red Dead Redemption 2 come to the platform I own?

If it has not been announced, treat it as no. Ports get announced long before they ship, never after.

Do I need any mods or third-party tools for this?

No. Everything described here works with the base game on any supported platform.

If you only take one thing from this: the answer near the top is the part that matters, the rest is context.