Rockstar Confirms Red Dead Redemption 2 Release Date Delay

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Rockstar Games confirmed on Thursday that Red Dead Redemption 2 release date on Xbox One as well as PlayStation 4 on October 26, 2018.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Release Date

The announcement regarding the delay of the Red Dead Redemption 2 release date came from the company’s official blog accompanied by an apology for the delay. The original Red Dead Redemption 2 release date was in Spring 2018, already delayed from an expected release of fall 2017. Now it appears as if the release will come around a year after the initially expected launch date on October 26, 2018.

The company blog stated “We are excited to announce that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be released on October 26 2018…”we apologize to everyone disappointed by this delay. While we had hoped to have the game out sooner, we require a little extra time for polish….We sincerely thank you for your patience and hope that when you get to play the game, you will agree the wait will have been worth it. In the meantime, please check out these screenshots from the game. We look forward to sharing a lot more information with you in the coming weeks.”

The screenshots released with the announcement of the Red Dead Redemption 2 release date are included below.

As far as what we know thus far regarding the upcoming title, Gamespot reports that Red Dead Redemption 2 follows the protagonist Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang “as they rob, fight and steal their way across the vast and rugged heart of America in order to survive.”

Back in May, new screenshots were released that gave us a sense of the environments we’ll see with the Red Dead Redemption 2 release date, preceded by the game’s first trailer. Just a few months ago in September, 2017, we were able to watch a second trailer that teased the game’s story, combat, characters, as well as some notable moments throughout the game.

As is expected, there’s no word on a PC release thus far. While it likely takes more resources to port a game from the console design to one that will run on PCs, many people are cynical regarding Rockstar’s history of releasing games on PC far later than their initial release. Grand Theft Auto 5, the company’s most recent AAA title, didn’t release on PC until almost two years later. This later release caused many people to “double dip,” buying the title first on the PS3 or PS4, and again a few years later for PC. Many are cynical regarding the release, but whether it’s Rockstar’s desire for more profits or actually a legitimate delay remains to be seen.

Online Functionality

Speaking of Grand Theft Auto 5, players recently discovered references to secret missions in a recent update to the game that connects to Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar sent GTA Online players an email in-game shortly afterward providing a clue that urges them to pursue “rumors of a lost relic from the frontier.” Successfully finishing this mission gave players a Double-Action Revolver to be used in Rockstar’s upcoming game following the Red Dead Redemption 2 release date.

A big question on everyone’s mind is how online functionality will factor in following the Red Dead Redemption 2 release date. Given the massive success of GTA Online, it’s clear that Rockstar may be looking to capitalize on the success of this formula with some sort of implementation in Red Dead Redemption 2.

Although an announcement of online features for the upcoming release date hasn’t been confirmed, Strauss Zelnick, the CEO of the studio’s parent company Take-Two had mentioned to investors to expect “recurrent consumer spending” to be included in most of the company’s game moving forward. While the actual mechanism for this spending is vague, it’s clear that the Red Dead Redemption 2 release date will usher in a game that seeks to create profit long after the initial launch. With a title as large as Red Dead Redemption 2, an online mode would surely more than pay off.

“We’ve said that we aim to have recurrent consumer spending options for every title that we put out at this company…It may not always be an online model. It may not, probably won’t always be, a virtual currency model, but there’ll be some ability to engage on an ongoing basis with our titles after release across the board,” said Zelnick.

We’ll have to wait until we get closer to the release to learn more about what we can expect with the Red Dead Redemption 2, as the delay is an unfortunate necessity with a game so big and expansive. However, with extra time and Rockstar’s track record of incredibly polished and excellent video games, it’s likely we’ll be in for a treat.

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