Red Dead Redemption 2 Not Showing on Steam or Rockstar Launcher: Solved

Rockstar Games did an excellent job by releasing Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018. It is an action-adventure video game and the third title in the Red Dead series. It serves as a prequel to Red Dead Redemption (2010) and also includes access to Red Dead Online, which allows players to share a living world. However, some players are experiencing issues, such as the game not showing on Steam or Rockstar Launcher, when playing on a Windows PC.

As per reports on the Steam Community forum for RDR2, multiple players have purchased Red Dead Redemption 2 on Steam recently, and somehow, the game doesn’t appear in the library section on the Rockstar Games Launcher. It’s quite weird because it shows ‘Red Dead Online’ and the ‘Play on Steam’ button. While the ‘My social club’ account is linked to a valid Steam account, other Rockstar Games appear in the library fine.

Fix: Red Dead Redemption 2 Not Showing on Steam or Rockstar Launcher

Some unfortunate and affected RDR2 players have tried to uninstall the game launcher, Rockstar social club, and RDR2 title multiple times but removing the program doesn’t come in handy most of the time. One thing needs to be mentioned: whenever players run RDR2 from Steam, it opens the Rockstar Games Launcher and then runs the RDR2.exe file. But unfortunately, it immediately goes to the black screen and crashes quite often without giving any valid reason or error notice.

Whenever players try to launch the RDR2.exe file directly, it eventually opens up the Rockstar Games Launcher, and throws out an error message that says “Your social club account does not have Red Dead Online”. Luckily, a couple of possible workarounds mentioned below should help you fix such an issue. So, without wasting any more time, let’s jump into the troubleshooting guide below.

1. Properly Link Rockstar Games Launcher and Steam

First, you should try linking the Rockstar Games Launcher and Steam launcher properly to ensure there is no issue with the authentication process. Sometimes issues with the account linking might cause several conflicts when running RDR2 on the launcher.

2. Check for Missing Drivers

The second thing you can do is check for the missing drivers on the PC by following the steps below to ensure there is no issue with the corrupted or missing drivers. In some cases, missing or corrupted drivers can eventually prevent the game from running smoothly, which includes graphics drivers, network drivers, etc.

• Press the Win+X keys to open the Quick Link Menu.
• Click on Device Manager from the list.
• Double-click on Display adapters, Network adapters, Disk drives, Sound, and video and game controllers to expand it.
• Right-click on the specific driver that’s active or you’re using.
• Next, click on Update driver > Click on Search automatically for drivers.
• It’ll now automatically check for the available update then download and install the latest version.
• Just wait for the same and reboot the PC to apply changes.

3. Update the Red Dead Redemption 2 Game

You can try checking for the RDR2 update at your end because an outdated game version can eventually trigger multiple issues with the game launching or not running in the full-screen window mode. Whereas the latest game version also brings bug fixes, improvements, additional features, and more. You can follow the steps below to update the game.

For Steam:

• Launch Steam on the PC > Click on LIBRARY.
• Right-click on Red Dead Redemption 2 from the left pane.
• Select Properties > Click on UPDATES from the left pane.
• Click on Always keep this game updated under the AUTOMATIC UPDATES section.
• Next, go back to LIBRARY > Click on Red Dead Redemption 2.
• If the Update button is visible, make sure to click on it to install the latest update.
• Wait for the process to be completed > Once done, restart the PC.

For Rockstar Games Launcher:

• Open the Rockstar Games Launcher > Click on Red Dead Redemption 2 from the left pane.
• Go to the Settings menu > Click on Red Dead Redemption 2 under My installed games.
• Now, click on Enable automatic updates to enable it.

4. Check for Rockstar Games or Steam Launcher Updates

You should also check for the game launcher updates manually by following the steps below to ensure there is no issue with the outdated launcher version.

For Steam:

• Open the Steam launcher > Sign into the valid account.
• Click on ‘Steam’ in the top left corner > Click on ‘Check for Steam Client Updates…’ in the drop-down menu.
• Now, Steam will begin to check if any updates are available or not.
• If there is an update available for the Steam client then you’ll see a message about it.
• As you’re already connected to the internet, the update download and installation process will automatically take place.
• Alternatively, you may get a message saying ‘Your Steam client is already up to date’ if you already have the latest Steam update installed.

For Rockstar Games Launcher:

You should check for the Rockstar Games Launcher update on the PC manually to ensure there is no outdated launcher version installed on the system. An outdated launcher can also trouble you a lot. To do so:

• Make sure to uninstall the Rockstar Games Launcher program on the PC.
  • Press the Windows key to open the Start menu > Open Control Panel.
  • Click on Uninstall a program > Select Rockstar Games Launcher from the list of installed programs.
  • Now, right-click on it, and select Uninstall > Follow the on-screen instructions to uninstall completely.
• Once done, you can reboot the PC to apply changes.
• Finally, visit this Rockstar Games Launcher link, download the latest version, and install it.

5. Directly Run PlayRDR2.exe and RDR2.exe from directory

You can directly head over to the Red Dead Redemption 2 installed directory on the PC and find out the PlayRDR2.exe or RDR2.exe application file. Once you’re there, make sure to run the program file by double-clicking on it. If it prompts for admin access, you should run the game as an administrator.

6. Run the Steam or Rockstar Games Launcher via Admin

You should try running the game exe application file on your PC as an administrator to ensure there is no conflict with the user account control (UAC) access on the system. If in case, your game file isn’t running with the admin access then it may cause launching issues on the Windows PC. To give admin access:

• Right-click on the Red Dead Redemption 2 exe application file on your PC.
• Click on Properties > Click on the Compatibility tab.
• Make sure to tick mark the Run this program as an administrator checkbox to enable it.
• Click on Apply and then OK to save changes.
• Once done, you can launch Red Dead Redemption 2 again to check for the issue.

7. Verify and Repair Game Files

It’s also worth mentioning verifying and repairing the installed game files on the PC so that the missing or corrupted game files can be fixed easily via the respective game launcher. To do so:

For Steam:

• Open Steam > Go to LIBRARY.
• Right-click on Red Dead Redemption 2 from the left pane.
• Select Properties > Go to LOCAL FILES.

• Click on Verify integrity of game files > Wait for the process to be completed.
• Once done, make sure to reboot the PC to apply changes.

For Rockstar Games Launcher:

• Open Rockstar Games Launcher on your PC.
• Sign in to the account and go to Settings.
• Select Red Dead Redemption 2 under My installed games.
• Click on Verify Integrity under Verify game file integrity.
• Now, wait for the process to be completed, and reboot the PC to apply changes.
• Finally, launch the client, and run the game to check for the issue.

8. Contact Rockstar Games Support

If none of the methods worked for you then make sure to contact Rockstar Games Support here and create a support ticket for the same. It’s expected that developers will come up with a patch fix soon.

That’s it, guys. We assume this guide was helpful to you. For further queries, you can comment below.