Clint Eastwood starrer Western movie, that was almost cancelled, inspired a major gaming franchise that is highly acclaimed in the gaming world
Without a doubt, actor and director Clint Eastwood has an endearing influence on the entertainment industry. With a distinctive career as an actor as well as a director, Eastwood stands as an iconic figure who has also inspired this beloved video game, Red Dead Redemption.
Today, video games are a completely immersive experience and in order to make it more appealing, gaming studios often pick up elements from real-life iconic franchises. This is exactly what Rockstar Games did while creating their 2010 video game Red Dead Redemption. The lead designer and co-writer of 2010’s Red Dead Redemption revealed that they took inspiration from Eastwood’s Unforgiven as well as some other Hollywood flicks that featured Western themes.
Clint Eastwood’s 1992 movie, Unforgiven inspired Red Dead Redemption
Christian Cantamessa, the lead designer and co-writer of Red Dead Redemption (2010), revealed in a 2010 interview with GameFan, that Clint Eastwood‘s 1992 movie, Unforgiven, was the inspiration,
“This is much later than many of the ‘classic’ Westerns that are usually set in between around 1840 and 1880, when the West itself was still being conquered. Sam Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch shares similar themes – as well as some of the best action sequences ever put to film – but we also took inspiration from the novels of Cormac McCarthy and from films like Unforgiven, High Plains Drifter and The Proposition.”
The Gunslinger side mission in Red Dead Redemption 2 also had a direct reference to Eastwood’s 1992 movie, making it clear that the movie served as an inspiration for the franchise.
Not just Eastwood’s Unforgiven, but films like High Plains Drifter (1973) and The Proposition (2005) inspired the studios to create a perfect Western-themed video game. With 2010’s Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar Games had a completely different approach. Their target audience was players between the ages of 18 and 35 and they planned to go “beyond the scope of movies” with this game.
Red Dead Redemption was a massive hit
With its perfect execution of a Western-themed video game, Red Dead Redemption became a massive hit among gamers. Released in May 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the game won multiple Game of the Year awards from several gaming publications and was widely regarded as one of the best games of all time.
Thanks to its success, Rockstar Games released its prequel, Red Dead Redemption 2, in October 2018. Just like its predecessor, the prequel was a success, generating $725 million in sales from its opening weekend. Rockstar Games has many iconic franchises under its belt, but the Red Dead Redemption series will always be loved for its distinctive themes and interactive gameplay.