Will Red Dead Redemption 2 Be Bigger Than GTA V?

If Rockstar Games wasn’t considered a bonafide hitmaker prior to the release of Grand Theft Auto V, they are now.  Their last open world game is still going strong four years + post-release, and is one of the top-selling games of all time.  Grand Theft Auto V is trading blows in the all-time sales charts with the likes of Tetris and Minecraft.

Later this year, Take Two and Rockstar have another contender entering the ring with Red Dead Redemption 2.  With almost a decade of build up to the sequel, the moment of truth is just a few months away, but can Red Dead Redemption 2 be bigger than Grand Theft Auto V?

There’s no doubt that Red Dead Redemption 2 is at the tippy top of many gamer wishlists for the fall of 2018, but not even Take Two is thinking it can top GTA V.  Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick recently explained the company’s outlook for the Red Dead sequel, saying that he doesn’t think it’s a realistic expectation.

“I don’t think that’s a realistic expectation,” says Zelnick in regards to Red Dead Redemption 2 topping the sales of Grand Theft Auto V.  “Our hope, and also belief, is that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be an extraordinary creative product and that it will do incredibly well.”

While it’s true that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be launching into a stacked holiday season, other publishers have been clearing a path for Take Two and this highly anticipated follow-up.  “We don’t believe in our success until we deliver it,” the CEO told Games Industry.

We’ll see soon enough whether Red Dead Redemption 2 can reach the lofty bar set by Grand Theft Auto V in terms of sales.  Right now the game is only slated to arrive on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 consoles.  Though if it follows a similar trajectory to Grand Theft Auto V a PC version of the game should be in the works.  Where the original Red Dead Redemption never saw a PC release, it’s hard to imagine Take Two letting the opportunity to reach millions of PC gamers with Red Dead 2 get away from them.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is locked in for an October 26th release on the Xbox One and PlayStation 4.