RDR 2 on Steam: Standard or Ultimate Edition

21 August 2026 · 7 min read

GameMapa editorial · how we check facts
Checked: Claude (AI) — fact-checked against the Ukrainian original; not proofread by a native speaker

On Steam, the difference between Red Dead Redemption 2 editions comes down to price and online bonuses: the standard edition costs 2599₴, the Ultimate Edition costs 4219₴, and Red Dead Online content makes up most of that extra cost. You get the full story campaign either way — there are no paid story add-ons to buy separately.

Below is exactly what the official description lists, what’s already included in the standard edition at no extra cost, what Rockstar doesn’t specify, and how platform selection works in the Rockstar store.

How much do the editions cost on Steam

The game’s Steam page offers two purchase options:

These are prices before any discounts — Steam runs sales from time to time, but we’re not citing any numbers about the size or timing of those sales here, since they aren’t fixed values.

It’s worth reading this table the right way. This isn’t a “cheap” version versus a “full” version, where less money buys you a trimmed-down game. It’s the same game with a different set of extra items — and almost all of that extra content works in the online mode, not the single-player campaign.

What the Ultimate Edition actually adds

According to the official description on the Steam page, the Ultimate Edition includes all the story content from the Special Edition plus additional online bonuses. The latter are listed specifically:

• character outfits;
• the Black Chestnut Thoroughbred horse;
• free access to the Survivor Camp theme;
• extra weapons in Red Dead Online.

So three of the four items are multiplayer items. If you don’t plan on going into Red Dead Online, they’ll simply sit unused.

A word on the horse specifically. It’s a head start in the online mode, not a unique animal you can’t get any other way. For how horse breeds, stats, and the bond with your rider generally work, we covered that in our guide to horses in RDR 2 — it shows just how much a horse affects your comfort in the game, and how quickly you can replace one.

Red Dead Online is already included in the standard edition

This is the most common misunderstanding when picking an edition. The online mode isn’t sold separately and isn’t part of the Ultimate Edition — it’s already included in the standard edition at no extra cost.

So the decision breaks down like this: you get access to the online mode either way, and paying extra for the Ultimate Edition buys you a starting set of items inside that mode. Not access to the mode itself.

If you’re getting the game for the multiplayer and you’re worried about starting “from zero against everyone else,” take a look at our guide on how to get started in Red Dead Online. Building up starting capital in the online mode is done through play, and we cover that separately in how to earn money in RDO.

What we’re not claiming

It’s worth drawing a clear line between what the official description actually says and what often gets added on top of it.

• We’re not listing exactly which Special Edition story content is included in the Ultimate Edition. The description says it’s included in full. What that content consists of, item by item, isn’t something we’re stating.
• We’re not saying the standard edition and the Ultimate Edition have an identical single-player campaign. The description explicitly mentions Special Edition story content as part of the Ultimate Edition — so we’re not claiming full equivalence in either direction.
• We’re not naming a number of outfits, weapons, or bonus items. Rockstar doesn’t break this down with a figure in the description, and we’re not going to invent one.
• We’re not comparing prices across stores or regions. The numbers here are Steam prices. What the editions cost on other storefronts isn’t something we’re stating.
• We’re not promising that the edition contents or prices won’t change. Storefronts update their pages; this is the picture at the time of writing.

Choosing a platform in the official Rockstar store

If you’re buying directly from the Rockstar Games Store rather than Steam, there’s a platform selection step before checkout. The available options are:

The most important line here is the last one. Even when you buy the PC version through the Rockstar store, you still choose which launcher the game lives in — the Rockstar Games Launcher or Steam. That’s not a cosmetic detail — it determines where your library is stored and how file verification and updates work.

There’s a practical knock-on effect too: achievements. The Steam version has its own achievement list, and if you’re collecting them, your choice of launcher matters. We cover this in full in our guide to RDR 2 achievements on Steam.

How to choose an edition: step by step

1. Decide whether you’ll play online. If you’re only planning to go through the campaign as Arthur, the standard edition is enough — you won’t need the Ultimate Edition bonuses.
2. If you will play online, decide whether you need a head start. The horse, outfits, weapons, and Survivor Camp theme access save you time early on, but they don’t unlock anything you can’t earn through play.
3. Work out the price difference for yourself. 2599₴ versus 4219₴ — weigh up whether that starting kit is worth the extra cost to you personally.
4. Choose where to buy. Steam gets you straight into the Steam library and its achievements. The Rockstar Games Store adds a platform selection step, including choosing between the Rockstar Games Launcher and Steam for PC.
5. For consoles, match the model. The Rockstar store lists PS4, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X — pick the line that matches your console.

If you want the wider picture of the game’s editions and platforms after this, we have a separate guide on RDR 2 editions and platforms.

About the “DLC” that doesn’t exist

Finally, the question readers ask most often. There are no separate, paid story add-ons for Red Dead Redemption 2 that you buy after getting the game. Anything that looks like “extra content” is really the difference between editions at the point of purchase: either you buy the standard edition, or the Ultimate Edition with its bundle of bonuses.

So “which DLC should I buy” is really the wrong question — the right one is “which edition should I buy up front.” And the answer to that depends on exactly one thing: whether you’re going to play Red Dead Online.

In short

On Steam, the standard edition of Red Dead Redemption 2 costs 2599₴, and the Ultimate Edition costs 4219₴, with the extra cost going mainly toward online bonuses: outfits, the Black Chestnut Thoroughbred horse, the Survivor Camp theme, and extra weapons. Access to Red Dead Online itself is already in the standard edition, and platform selection (PS4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, or PC via the Rockstar Games Launcher or Steam) happens in the official Rockstar Games Store.