It has been a rough week for gamers who have patiently waited for Red Dead Redemption 2. Over the weekend, a Destiny 2 gameplay reveal reaction video supposedly leaked the launch date for the open-world Western sequel. According to the clip, the game was going to be released in September this year. However Take-Two Interactive followed up shortly with an announcement that it has been officially delayed to 2018.
Industry analysts have observed that Take-Two Interactive did not display any indication that it was worried about the Red Dead Redemption 2 release date setback. Even as its share prices took a hit after the announcement of the delay, the management seems to be ok with the consequences. Game Rant reports that the company CEO Strauss Zelnick said, "consumers are consuming entertainment year-round now" during the company's earnings call.
According to an article from Gamespot, Zelnick told investors during their earnings call that "the purpose of the delay for Red Dead Redemption 2 is to make sure we deliver the most extraordinary we're capable of providing." He also sounded confident when he added, "we believe that if you give people an extraordinary experience, they will show up for it." The original game also launched around May and eventually became a worldwide hit.
It appears that Take-Two Interactive believes that a game can still be a success no matter the release date. Industry analysts have always believed that top-tier games must be released close to the holiday seasons in order to gain good sales. However, the consumer's excitement for Red Dead Redemption 2 will most likely make it a top-seller in no time.
Gameplay information about Red Dead Redemption 2 continues to be scarce as the developer continues to keep it under wraps. Besides the very short trailer and a couple of promotional images, players have little to no idea about its plot and new features. However, a recent batch of screenshots allowed fans to speculate that the sequel might feature a single protagonist instead. Rumors previously suggested that the game will follow Grand Theft Auto V and have more than one protagonist. The game is scheduled to launch for all major platforms sometime in 2018.
