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Patricia is the former editor-in-chief of Kotaku, where she spent a decade writing and editing. Prior to that, she served as the Culture Editor at Polygon, and as a reporter at The Verge. Hernandez specializes in Pokémon TCG, Nintendo, and offbeat internet culture stories.
After nearly a decade of silence, Rockstar finally acknowledges one of RDR2's most controversial features
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Fans have spent years gossiping about a crass detail in Red Dead Redemption 2 that has never been officially acknowledged by developer Rockstar Games. That silence, alongside unclear video footage, made some gamers doubt the detail was truly an intended part of the game. Now, nearly a decade later, Rockstar has confirmed the existence of RDR2's "horse balls" — and given players a good reason to believe Grand Theft Auto 6 will be full of similar flourishes.
The news comes via a YouTube video from Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier, who recently reported a major GTA 6 cover story for the outlet. The video is a summation of many notes that didn't make it into the final story, like an anecdote about how Rockstar spent years trying to redesign GTA 6's weapon wheel. At one point, Rockstar got rid of the weapon wheel altogether. Yet despite countless iterations on the weapon loadout mechanic, Rockstar reverted to the original weapon wheel visible in GTA 6 footage.
The most surprising revelation, however, has to be about RDR2's so-called horse balls. About nine years ago, footage of the open-world western went viral after fans noticed a strange animation. It seemed like Arthur Morgan's trusty steed had testicles with their own dedicated physics. Some swore that it looked like the stallion's privates would actually change shape depending on the weather.
Despite years of arguments, Rockstar never commented on the controversial feature. According to Schreier, the feature is real — but it was never a planned bullet point on Rockstar's production schedule. Instead, the animations made it into the final game because someone decided to spend time on it of their own accord. Schreier doesn't specify if the horse auteur was a single person or perhaps a group of people, but he did assert that RDR2's long gestation period — and Rockstar parent company Take-Two's deep pockets — saw developers getting creative with what they put into the game.
"I think there are going to be a lot of details like that within this game," Schreier mused of GTA 6 while discussing RDR2's horse balls.
GTA 6 isn't out yet, but Schreier's speculation is already well-substantiated. The open-world shooter is rife with minor details, like mud physics and complex NPC dialogue systems that showcase just how deep into the weeds Rockstar is willing to go. Whatever Rockstar did to craft its bespoke horse balls may well be getting an upgrade as well. Recent leaked footage showing co-protagonist Jason Duvall in the nude had viewers pointing out that the character's genitals had their own physics. We don't yet know if players will be able to move their members freely, but the game does feature a nudist colony where such physics would make perfect sense.
Grand Theft Auto 6 is coming to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X on Nov. 19.