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Rockstar Games has graced us with a selection of new, high-quality stills from the recently released Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer, alongside new screenshots from the game. While none of these will reveal information that a frame-by-frame of the trailer hasn’t already, they’re great for making the wait until October 26th that much more agonizing. Yay! Some games stand out from the crowd with a unique art style or atypical aesthetics. Red Dead Redemption 2? Red Dead Redemption 2 just sticks to being plain old gorgeous. The game is presumably running on a modified version of RAGE, the engine used by Grand Theft Auto 5, and is a significant graphical improvement over Rockstar’s previous release – at the time GTA 5 was considered one of the best looking titles. Rockstar, the devils. They saw what was one of the hottest discussion topics these past few months, and cashed it in. The latest trailer confirmed that John Marston, protagonist of Red Dead Redemption, will be in this game as well. Red Dead Redemption 2 is set 12 years before the events of RDR’s main plotline, so we’ll be meeting up with a younger John. It isn’t known who will be his voice actor, as Robb Wiethoff retired after this role, just as he said he would. Dutch, before his descent into megalomaniacal murderous madness, was quite the dapper gent. Behind him lies the gang’s camp – well, one of them at least – overlooking a stunning vista. Red Dead Redemption 2’s landscapes will be a far cry from those seen in the first game, with an emphasis on lush forests and snowy mountains. The lass getting comfortable on the cot back there is likely a colleague of Abigail. Abigail, before becoming John’s wife, was a prostitute who serviced the members of Dutch’s Gang. Since the gang numbers significantly more members in Red Dead Redemption 2, it’s reasonable to assume that Abigail couldn’t handle the load alone and needed a helping hand. Bank robberies will appear in Red Dead Redemption 2’s missions. Sometimes, in order to get the score, players will need to “motivate” the tellers. Asking nicely doesn’t work all the time, even if you emphasize your request with a gun. During bank robberies, you’ll have a short period of time before law enforcement responds. With that in mind, you can take the time and crack safes for a bigger payout, or blow the locks quicker, destroying some of the goods in the process. At its height, Dutch’s Gang numbered significantly more members then what we saw in Red Dead Redemption. We hope the game will incorporate some explanation as to why Agent Ross doesn’t send John after these folk, or even why they’re not even mentioned at all in the previous title. Chances are they’ll all bite the dust, but hey, there are other possibilities. They’ll still die, probably. For all the forests and snowy mountains, this is still a Wild West game, so you can expect some typical Wild West locales, like dry plains with bluffs rising up around you. These days the size of an open-world game’s map matters a whole lot and Rockstar will likely one-up GTA 5 in terms of map size. The fact that horses will be the quickest method of readily available transport besides trains will make it feel bigger too. The game’s physics engine is highly sophisticated and this is most apparent during gunfights. Wood will splinter realistically, and character hitboxes are so precise that even clothing is accounted for – if Arthur Morgan’s hat is shot somewhere where his head isn’t, the hat will be knocked off your head, and it doesn’t respawn either. You either pick it back up Indiana Jones style or you’ll be with a bare top until your next trip to a clothing shop. Nice tree. Pretty clouds. Dramatic pose with egregious lack of trigger discipline. Is he threatening that tuft of dried grass? Oh, look, birds! What should we be looking at here? Arthur Morgan will act as the right-hand man of gang leader Dutch, meaning many of the other outlaws will rely on him for things like food. Hunting will be a significant element of Red Dead Redemption 2, but entirely optional. If you don’t give two buckshots about the empty bellies of your mates, they’ll go off and catch some food themselves, but don’t expect a warm welcome when you slink back to camp. Red Dead Redemption 2 will be a character-driven narrative experience, with the other outlaws in the gang being core elements of the plot. These won’t just be random NPCs who happen to populate the camp, but characters with depth, stories to tell and distinct personalities. Morgan will be able to forge relationships with characters in the world based on his reactions and interactions. Now, either the developers were cheating and set up this shot of a wolf who, instead of flying towards your trachea with teeth bared, or the game will have a photo mode. I’m hoping for the latter, because a game that can look like this absolutely deserves it. With the release of this trailer and IGN’s report on the 45-minute demo, Rockstar is finally kicking their marketing into gear. Fans can expect shorter periods of radio-silence in between information being revealed. The post Red Dead Redemption 2 – The New Trailer, In Pictures appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Rockstar Games released a new trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2 yesterday, breaking a long spell of radio silence and giving us the first sliver of official information about the game in what feels like ages – and oh boy, was it worth the wait. The trailer dropped some major bombs that the community has been buzzing about ever since. Let’s look at what the trailer confirmed, and what can be deduced from it. The first and possibly most important thing about the trailer is that it wasn’t paired with the sour news of yet another delay. After the game got pushed back twice, with the announcements prettied up with screenshots, players have learned to be wary of official Rockstar announcements, lest the release date get pushed back again. Thankfully it seems October 26th really is locked in. Familiar Faces When Red Dead Redemption 2’s second trailer revealed not only that Dutch will make an appearance, but he will be a central character (since the protagonist Arthur Morgan will be a member of his gang) players immediately started looking for other returning characters. One of the most hotly and fervently debated topics was whether the game will include the protagonist of Red Dead Redemption 2, John Marston, and if this would even be a good thing. Now, the new trailer revealed that several main characters from Red Dead Redemption will be making a return, including Marston. Players caught glimpses of Javier Escuela and Bill Williamson in the trailer as well, and a woman who looks somewhat like Abigail, but redesigned. IGN, having published their impressions from a 45-minute hands-on demo they played during an event in Edinburgh, confirm all these characters will appear. Note: In our initial post covering the third trailer, we speculated that it might include John’s origin story, or even how he was recruited. Since then we’ve realized this isn’t possible, as John has been a member of the gang since he was 17 years old, and in 1899 when Red Dead Redemption 2 is set, he’s 26. IGN also revealed the names of some other members of Dutch’s Gang. These include Sadie Adler, Sean McGuire, Lenny, Karen, Charles Smith, Micah Bell and Pearson. It isn’t clear if this is the full roster, or if there are other unannounced member .But either way, we hope the game gives ample reason why none of them, or even their past existence, is mentioned in Red Dead Redemption. Wild Frontier The trailer has revealed some details about the location and setting of the game. We know that the game begins in the city of Blackwater, a location that played a central role in Red Dead Redemption as well. It will be joined by an area called New Hanover, which includes the town of Valentine, which contains a bank that the players can rob in a mission with Bill Willamson. While these pieces of information were apparent from previous trailers as well, the new video further hammers home the point that Red Dead Redemption 2 won’t have your typical Wild West setting, with desert barrens, rocky bluffs and sun-scorched plains dominating the scenery. The game will have forests, lush fields, snowy mountains, swamps and wetlands in large quantities, which is something addressed in the story – Dutch moved to the gang to non-typical Wild West locations to escape from lawmen while making a quick buck, returning to the west only when the gang is rich. Hunting, Shooting, Riding, Scuffling Some of the side activities the game may offer were hinted at in the trailer, while others were confirmed by the demo. Yes, much of the trailer looked scripted, but in many cases the footage looked rather like it was recorded during live gameplay, and edited to be shown from different angles without a HUD (according to IGN, the game’s HUD is minimal, unobtrusive, and automatically hides itself in certain situations anyway). These include a brawl, a scene where Morgan does a quick-draw on an unseen duel opponent and hunting. Red Dead Redemption 2 will feature a dynamic gang hideout camp which changes location as you progress in the game and needs to be maintained. Morgan will act as Dutch’s right-hand man, meaning you’ll be responsible for a lot of what goes into keeping a gang running. Such duties will include the acquisition of supplies. While Rockstar doesn’t want chores to get into the way of fun, meaning if you neglect your obligations as Gang Enforcer someone else will get tired of your shit and do the job themselves. However, if you dutifully hunt, keep your fellow outlaws well fed, bring in loot and help them on their capers, they will respect and like you more, leading to more character interaction. There is also a vast amount of detail and realism in the game. If you shoot a deer for food, you can’t just place it into an invisible inventory (like Morgan has a magical pocket that is bigger on the inside). Rather, you need to carry it back to your horse, then ride back to the camp – and do it before the carcass starts to rot, thus becoming inedible. Rockstar has also put a great deal of effort into the NPC AI. Random characters in Red Dead Redemption 2 will have their own personalities, changing how they react to your actions. So much as walking around with pistol in hand will make some be afraid of you, some might ask you to mind your manners and stash the gun, while others pull theirs and give you a very stern warning. Red Dead Redemption 2 will also feature some RPG elements in terms of how you interact with the world. Morgan will be able to select from a number of contextual interaction options with every single NPC in the game, making roadside encounters more varied. You can greet someone politely, react aggressively, be rude, be kind, or just ignore them. Based on their personality, they will react to different interactions in different ways. It also seems that we weren’t too far off the mark when we detailed all the different approaches to potential horse customization – IGN’s report indicates that the Red Dead development team did their equine research, with various breeds looking the part, acting like they would in real life, and reacting to situations dynamically depending on their relationship with Morgan. Your mount will be more of a character than just another tool – whistling for your horse only works within earshot, the longer you use the game horse the more it will trust you, provided you feed and groom it properly, and the horse will also act as an inventory expansion, allowing you to store supplies in its saddlebags. Red Dead Redemption 2 is shaping up to be most definitely a game as good as our expectations are, if not better. Widespread concern among the fans regarding the dominance of multiplayer and microtransactions have tempered hype, but it seems like Rockstar is right on track to release one of the defining single-player experiences of this generation. The post Everything Red Dead Redemption 2’s New Trailer Tells Us About The Game appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Rockstar Games has published, as promised, the third trailer for the upcoming Wild West epic Red Dead Redemption 2, which has revealed further details about the game’s storyline, accompanied by a slightly more verbose blurb. We now know more of what to expect regarding this game’s narrative, though gameplay details remain elusive. The trailer, running for just over 2 minutes, is going to be an absolute hype generator with all the various scenes just waiting to be picked apart by fans. Even on the first viewing attentive players will catch some significant details. We finally know more about the motivation of the gang, about the timeframe of the game and how Morgan fits into all of this. The West had nearly been tamed “We’re more ghosts than people” says Morgan to an unnamed lady outlaw right before the trailer specifies the year the plot will take place in to be 1899, putting it 7 years before the botched robbery at the beginning of Red Dead Redemption, and 12 years before the main events of that game. This means that Red Dead Redemption 2 takes place during the era before Dutch went violently insane, and the trailer indicates as much with his dialogue. Seeing the gang back when it was still running as an idealistic, Robin hood-esque vigilante anti-hero outfit, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor will be an interesting antithesis to how every member goes quite clearly morally depraved 12 years later. The trailer shows us an iteration of Dutch’s Gang that is quite populous, comprised of significantly more outlaws than just Williamson, Escuela, Morgan and… John Marston. Sons of Dutch That’s right, this trailer confirms the presence of John Marston. Considering the timeframe, the plot of Red Dead Redemption 2 might even contain a section that resembles an origin story for the protagonist of the previous title, which would be possibly the most extreme example of fan service since the Citadel DLC for Mass Effect 3. For all we know, Morgan may even have a hand in recruiting Marston. In any case, the trailer involves one gang member describing them as the ‘Sons of Dutch’. Whether this is a one-time play on words, or a sort of name for the gang that wasn’t mentioned before will become clear later on. The plot synopsis starts off in a rather familiar manner – Dutch’s Gang botch a robbery in Blackwater. However, instead of leaving one of their members behind, only for that member to return hunting them at the behest of the authorities, we’ll be following the gang members as they try to evade lawmen and bounty hunters in an epic game of cat and mouse spanning the “rugged heartland of America”. Now, players might remember that the Blackwater Massacre of 1899 is mentioned a few times in Red Dead Redemption. A large-scale shootout between lawmen and outlaws in the town of Blackwater that claimed the lives of 22 outlaws and 15 lawmen, the Blackwater Massacre was unique due to having taken place in a modern, industrialized and supposedly safe urban area. This event may very well be the botched robbery that sets off the events of Red Dead Redemption 2. This would also mean that Landon Ricketts would appear in the prequel (and would make it strange that he never mentions Dutch was involved). The official description also states that “As deepening internal divisions threaten to tear the gang apart, Arthur must make a choice between his own ideals and loyalty to the gang who raised him” , suggesting that there will be some kind of break between Morgan and the gang. This is pure speculation, but I call RDR2’s ending will mirror the ending of Red Dead Redemption, with Morgan opening barn doors and getting gunned down by the members of the gang due to some betrayal, hence why he isn’t around or even mentioned in Red Dead Redemption. Beyond these details, the trailer is filled with pretty scenes showing off the fantastic graphics the game packs, includes a lot of outlaws doing outlawed things, horses (obviously) and many scripted events from cutscenes. There is a train robbery, but it isn’t clear what role it will have in gameplay, and the same can be said of bank robberies. It seems that brawls and duels will appear as in-game activities, as many of the shots showing these looked like they were recorded through regular gameplay, but were edited to be shown from different angles and without UI to fit the cinematic feel of the trailer. This is also true for many scenes peppered about this footage – both previous trailers were 100% scripted and taken from cutscenes, whereas here we see gameplay, albeit heavily edited. You can expect to see a more detailed, in-depth analysis of the new trailer shortly. The post Red Dead Redemption 2 Gets Third Trailer appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

At long last the information drought is coming to an end. On the 2nd of May, this Wednesday, Rockstar Games will show off a brand new, official trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2, hopefully giving us a glimpse of the gameplay side of things and providing more details about the game overall. The announcement of the upcoming trailer re-confirms the October 26 release date, so this likely won’t be paired with the sour news of another delay. Red Dead Redemption 2 has two trailers so far. The first was released on the day of the game’s official announcement, showing off several pre-rendered scenes peppered with in-engine footage. It didn’t really reveal anything about the game, other than the fact that it exists and will have an abundance of horses and gruff monologuing men. The second trailer showed off the protagonist, Arthur Morgan, while also confirming that the game will be a prequel to Red Dead Redemption by including the returning character Dutch, with whom Morgan will work together during the storyline. It also showcased more, as of yet unnamed, characters as well as snippets of cutscenes from the game. Since then, nothing new has been revealed about the twice-delayed game, and fans have grown restless in that time. The only source of new info was an unsubstantiated leak, with some of the information in it seeming legitimate enough while other things not so much. In any case, on Wednesday, we’ll see more of the upcoming title. After one announcement and one story trailer, plus two sets of screenshots, it is about time we get a glimpse of what Red Dead Redemption 2’s gameplay will be like. Hopefully the trailer will show, if not a full gameplay scenario with UI and all, some footage of the game that isn’t a cutscene or isn’t scripted. The new trailer will be released exactly at 11 AM Eastern both on Rockstar’s website and on their YouTube channel. It’s high time we got some more details to chew on, and with the release date of Red Dead Redemption 2 approaching, it’s time for Rockstar to kick off a steadier stream of information and marketing. Check back on Wednesday for coverage of the new Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer. The post Red Dead Redemption 2 Gets New Trailer This Wednesday appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Red Dead Redemption 2’s release is still about half a year away, however the time until launch is rapidly decreasing with still no new information coming from Rockstar. Knowing so little of the game, fans can really only base their speculation on previous titles developed by the company, as well as current gaming trends, which has led rise to one of the most common concerns among those waiting for the title. If you look at any discussion platform where Red Dead fans are talking about the upcoming prequel to 2010’s Red Dead Redemption, one of the most frequent fears players have is that the single-player mode and the game’s storyline will be less developed and rounded out than what we’re expecting, because the budget will be focused on Red Dead Online, the game’s multiplayer mode. These concerns are based on a number of factors. Rockstar’s most recent title, Grand Theft Auto 5, was expanded with an Online mode soon after launch, and that Online mode eventually outgrew the story mode both in terms of sheer content and in terms of popularity. GTA 5 was set to receive story DLC at one point, but that never materialized. Instead, Online is getting a steady stream of free DLC to this day. Additionally, Rockstar and Take-Two are known to go where the money is. Usually, due to the skill and dedication of the developers, that approach didn’t detract from the quality of their games – just look at Red Dead Redemption and the previous GTA titles – however after GTA Online became favored over story mode, largely due to the huge amount revenue being brought in by microtransactions, fans are concerned. Some longtime fans of the GTA franchise, who have been playing for years, and across multiple console generations, feel somewhat betrayed by the lack of single-player DLC and story content in GTA 5 in spite of the franchise being primarily a narratively driven experience. Online DLC seems to cater to the masses who adopted the series with GTA 5 and are in it for the multiplayer, while dedicated fans who prefer traditional GTA are left with nothing new. Looking at the mainstream gaming scene today, we see an industry dominated by multiplayer games priced significantly below the standard $60 AAA price or that are free-to-play with microtransaction economies. The explosive growth of trend-games which hop onto whatever the hot genre is at the moment – this being battle royale currently – and how Streamer culture is so thoroughly entwined with the industry that games have specific features, or are designed in a way, to be streamed and watched, puts non-narrative multiplayer titles at an advantage. The huge Red Dead Redemption 2 leak that was published recently suggests that the game will have a battle royale mode. While the legitimacy of the leak is in question, it wouldn’t be surprising if that prediction turned out to be true. As saturated as the battle royale genre is, a game at the level of quality that Rockstar produces in a Wild West setting would still be fairly novel. These factors together may make it seem easy to assume that Red Dead Redemption 2 will put the emphasis on the Online mode, slap bail bonds or buffalo cards or whatever in it and leave the campaign short and under-cooked. However, several signs also indicate that we needn’t worry and that Rockstar will produce a fantastic story mode for Red Dead Redemption 2. Firstly, even though we’ve been provided very little material on what the game will be like – we’ve only two trailers and two batches of screenshots to show for over a year of waiting – all of that material has been focused on the game’s storyline and single-player content. The first, semi-prerendered cinematic trailer introduced the world and tone, while the second showed a number of clips from in-game screenshots, depicting characters, locations and story hints. Most of the screenshots Rockstar has shown us are also of the single player campaign, at least as far as we can confirm – for all we know, all of the screenshots are from the single player. Then there’s that recent official statement from Rockstar that they remain dedicated to narrative and single player experiences as per their legacy. Let’s not forget, that even though GTA Online got all the DLC, GTA 5’s story was still extensive and filled with content. And while it’s easy to point at the breakaway success of battle royale games and your typical streamer-bait titles, there are plenty of examples in the industry for high-quality, AAA story-focused titles which still achieved success, meaning Red Dead Redemption 2 focusing on story and solo play is still fitting the “trends”. Just look at the recent release of Dad God of War – the game is single player-only and has a huge focus on storyline and inter-personal relations. It’s a character-driven AAA title that is also a massive hit. Who said only multiplayer brings in cash? Of course, we’ll have to wait for release to render final judgment, but in spite of the seemingly “obvious” signs that the single player portion of Red Dead Redemption 2 will be neglected, we’re fairly certain that fans can rest easy – it’s story is going to hit harder than a horse kick. The post Red Dead Redemption 2’s Story Campaign Is “Safe” From Online Success appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Red Dead Redemption 2, like any good open-world game title, will probably be filled to the brim with activities to spend time with while progressing with the main storyline. Some games go about populating their sandboxes with things to do better than others and based on what Rockstar Games achieved with Grand Theft Auto 5, it’s easy to assume which way things will go this time. Unfortunately, not a whole lot about Red Dead Redemption 2 is known to players yet, beyond the game being released on the 26th of October following two delays. We’ve had a few batches of screenshots and a pair of trailers, but not a lot of details regarding gameplay, or the map, or plot, or anything really beyond the setting – that Dutch will come back and that the protagonist is called Arthur Morgan. Beyond these scraps of info, we’re in the dark – save for a leak, the legitimacy of which is highly questionable at this point. That leaves us with ideas drawn from the previous titles in the series, as well as speculation, the latter of which is often employed by the fanbase. Various discussion platforms focusing on the upcoming title are filled with what fans want in the game, and what they think will be in the game. With regards to side activities, there are a few frequently mentioned concepts. Train Robberies It seems that after Rockstar put that particularly picturesque scene of the locomotive puffing along in the game’s announcement trailer, players are constantly banging along about train robberies, and we can’t blame them. It’s one of those quintessential things that bandits in Westerns do and was missing from Red Dead Redemption in a proper, structured manner outside of specific missions. Should Red Dead Redemption 2’s world have a system of train tracks crisscrossing the map, based on player proximity the trains could occasionally be spawned nearby (obviously they wouldn’t be constantly running all over the unrendered portions of the map, that would be a waste of resources) with a prompt to rob them. These prompts would always spawn when the train is near to reaching a station, giving the player limited time to complete the robbery because lawmen would attack you if you’re still on board when the train reaches the mentioned station. Bank Robberies While heists may be GTA 5’s turf, there’s nothing to prevent some good old bank robberies to be present in Red Dead Redemption 2. One scene in the game’s second trailer showed safes being blown open as Morgan walks stoically towards the camera. While this likely is a scripted event in a story mission, it leaves open the possibility that the game will feature a number of banks which will offer players a way to make a quick buck. The mechanics of an activity like this would be rather easy to implement. Simply clear out the guards, grab the loot – maybe implement some lock-picking or safe-cracking system that would take more time but yield greater rewards than blowing the safes open which might damage the goods inside – and get out, shacking whatever kind of wanted system the game will have. Fishing/Hunting While hunting was present in Red Dead Redemption, fishing wasn’t, however both of these side-activities have been present in a number of open-world games in the past few years. The thing about these activities is that they can be quite divisive – who would bother with fishing in a Wild West bandit power fantasy like Red Dead Redemption 2? Thing is, when it comes to open world games, if the world itself is of quality – and we are speaking about a Rockstar title here – you can’t really enjoy that vast world with bullets flying about constantly. Basically, every open world game out there has at least one kind of side-activity which isn’t as action-packed as everything else, giving players a chance to explore and enjoy the world which the developers put so much effort into building up and filling with detail that you’re bound to miss during the main missions. Brawling Getting into a scuffle when you’re trying to have a drink isn’t something that necessarily needs to be institutionalized in an open world game, but then if given some kind of structure, visiting every saloon and beating the local champ to earn the rep of being the top brawler in the region, players will be motivated to beat in a few faces in an… organized manner. Duels Duels were an integral boss-fight mechanic in Red Dead Revolver, and were used sparingly to great dramatic effect in Red Dead Redemption while also forming the conceptual basis on the dead eye mechanic. Similar to the brawler concept, in each settlement, there could be some kind of badass undefeated (clearly, because they’re alive) duelist who you need out-badass and leave in the dust with a quick trigger finger. Territory Control What little we know of Red Dead Redemption 2’s story is that instead of being an ex-outlaw like Marston was in the previous game, Morgan will be an outlaw during the game’s events, at least for a while. While bandits are stereotypically shown to battle lawmen, often times bandits also fought one another for territory and loot. As Morgan will be a member of the Van Der Linde gang, it’s possible that the game would be divided up into zones of influence, and at the beginning, only one will belong to Dutch. As the game progresses, players may need to take control over zones by pushing out the local reigning gang and taking over their operation, thus unlocking a string of other missions and activities in that zone. First, you’d need to disrupt their dealings, find out where their hideout is, then wipe them out. Strangers I know that every Red Dead fan would be disappointed if these wouldn’t make a return in the upcoming game. Strangers missions were odd requests from various NPCs living across the frontier. These tasks were varied, sometimes simple, sometimes weird, and instead of driving the main story forward they gave the world more character. Rockstar implemented a similar set of missions in GTA 5 called Strangers and Freaks. Strangers missions also gave us the mystery of the enigmatic “Strange Man”, a dapper fellow dressed impeccably who seems to know a whole lot about John. Mysteries are always the most intriguing when they are left unsolved, so I hope Red Dead Redemption 2 won’t give us a straight answer to what he’s on about, but a reappearance would be most welcome. Of course, for every fan, there are at least five ideas for side activities, so you’re all welcome to flood the comments with your own input regarding what activities you’d want to spend time with when not progressing with the main plot. The post Red Dead Redemption 2 Side Activity Wishlist appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Everyone is already assuming that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be a commercial success and they’ll almost certainly be correct. No one is doubting that the game will make a splash, and has a shot at being the year’s best seller, but can it outpace the best selling entertainment product ever made? Unlikely. Rockstar Games created an absolute beast of a game with Grand Theft Auto 5, which recently crossed the 90 million copies shipped milestone, and with $6 billion in earnings is the single most profitable game ever released. Though, if one were to consider World of Warcraft and all its expansions as a gestalt, it would be a higher earner), giving Red Dead Redemption 2 a bar too high to jump. Industry analyst Doug Creutz of Cowen & Company discussed the wild success of GTA 5, and with Red Dead Redemption 2’s release coming up, it’s impossible not to address the question of whether Rockstar’s next title will eclipse it’s last. Creutz was clear on this – it won’t, and it’s unlikely that any other Rockstar title that isn’t the next GTA would either, or any other game from other franchises, developers and publishers. GTA 5 is an outlier according to Creutz, and it will hold onto its record for a good long while. Of course, he’s hardly denying that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be successful. The game can be a sweeping financial success, moving tens of millions of copies and raking vastly more money than its budget and still fall short of 90 million copies and $6 billion in revenue. To say that Red Dead Redemption 2 won’t out-sell GTA 5 isn’t panning the former, just further putting the insane success of Rockstar’s last masterpiece into perspective. Then again, the idea that it won’t outsell GTA 5 isn’t a new one. Of course, the comparisons between GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2 are unfair in various ways. While Grand Theft Auto has grown over a decade into becoming the quintessential mainstream gaming franchise with a vast array of games across many platforms, Red Dead isn’t as well known among non-gamer circles. Everyone knows what GTA is, no matter how into video games they are, whereas Red Dead – with Redemption selling “just” 10 million copies – is a core gaming IP. It’s one of the most discussed games on the internet, however the people discussing it are the people who would have bought it anyway. GTA 5 didn’t move 90 million copies because of the existing fans and gamers, otherwise all previous titles in the series would have similar numbers, but because Rockstar and Take-Two reached out to expand their audience. GTA 5’s arrival was heralded by billboards, liveries on trams, murals on the sides of buildings and a torrent of adverts. While Red Dead Redemption 2 is hotly discussed, almost all of that discussion amounts to “when will we get more info” or “when will we get a GameInformer cover story” and so on. All other major AAA releases, including Grand Theft Auto 5 which comes from an infinitely more famous and known franchise, doubled down on pre-release publicity. Red Dead Redemption 2’s success isn’t in question – even the analyst saying it won’t hit GTA 5’s level of success brings attention to this, however the measure of that success is the question Not to mention, every fan of the franchise is starving for information about the game, which is half a year away. Hopefully, that release date set for the 26th of October will really be the final one – Take-Two’s CEO seems to be confident in that at least. The post Red Dead Redemption 2 Won’t Beat GTA 5 According To Analyst appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Red Dead Redemption 2 fans have gotten used to being starved for information. But after two delays, everyone is getting anxious as the current projected release date inches closer and Rockstar Games continues its radio silence. Even though initially we knew a delay was definitely a possibility, it’s reasonable to hope that there won’t be a third. Now, Rockstar has a unique way of doing things, an approach to pre-release marketing that really isn’t mirrored by any other company in the business, and thus they can’t be compared to how others market their games. That said, Rockstar has plenty of titles under their belt for us to compare the Red Dead Redemption 2 situation to, plus even a company with as much goodwill as Rockstar has to adhere to how markets work. October is fast approaching, however the past months since the latest delay – which was announced alongside a promise of new info coming soon after – went by much the same way as all the others. Not a peep has been heard from Rockstar, barely anything is known about the game, and to say that the game is under-marketed is an understatement. Red Dead Redemption 2 has a whole lot of traction among fans and made a huge splash online, but that sort of hype isn’t enough to sell a game to a wide crowd. GTA Online was used as a venue for promotion once before, and while using a game which is played by millions isn’t the worst strategy out there, it was only used a single time. Grand Theft Auto V, a game from a franchise with infinitely more brand recognition and mainstream appeal than Red Dead, was marketed extensively prior to release. At a minimum Red Dead Redemption 2 needs a similar marketing plan. Take-Two will play things much more conservatively than simply banking on Red Dead Redemption 2 selling on nothing but its name alone. Rockstar is a huge name, but even they cannot make back the huge budgets of their titles without marketing – not to mention a return on investment. Many fans have come to the conclusion that unless things heat up before the Take-Two conference call in May, the future of Red Dead Redemption 2 will be uncertain. The post Red Dead Redemption 2’s Marketing Push Needs To Start Soon appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Microsoft is strengthening its Xbox ecosystem by bringing Xbox One X upgrades not only to native Xbox One games, but the Xbox 360 games which have been made available on Xbox One via backwards compatibility. And Rockstar’s masterpiece, Red Dead Redemption, is among the first of these titles to receive the honors. Red Dead Redemption, released in 2010, was available for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. The title has been a console exclusive ever since, having been made available to stream via the PlayStation Now service or to be played on any Xbox One console thanks to the backwards compatibility program. The enhancement doesn’t bring sweeping graphical changes, so don’t expect Red Dead Redemption to look like a game released this year – just wait for Red Dead Redemption 2 to fill that niche – since that would require extensive work on the in-game assets that isn’t feasible. However, the game has received 4K support, and all the necessary tweaks to make sure the visuals are not negatively impacted by the upscaling. A few other backwards compatible games are also getting the enhancement and a large batch of Xbox 360 classics are now being added to the backwards compatible catalogue, including a number of Star Wars titles. While being able to play Red Dead Redemption at 4K provided you have the necessary hardware sounds like a great deal, there is a catch fo the fans. While the possibility of some kind of RDR remaster has always been slim, we’ve been holding out hope for Rockstar going back to pretty up the game for the current generation. Red Dead Redemption was a graphical masterpiece upon launch and still looks great today, but visual tech has advanced a lot in 8 years. With this visual enhancement for the Xbox One X, the game already runs at 4K without a remaster. Many fans combined the hope of a remaster with the hope for a PC port, however with PS Now streaming, even that box has been technically ticked. So basically, on paper, we’ve run out of reasons to even make a remaster. Oh well, guess it’s time to invest in an Xbox One X and 4K TV, right? The post Red Dead Redemption To Get Xbox One X Enhanced appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

If Rockstar isn’t going to keep the hype alive for Red Dead Redemption 2 leave it to the fans to take over. One particularly skilled person has taken it upon themselves to mash the game together with another widely popular hobby – LEGO. You might think that the adult themes present in Red Dead make it an ill fit with the plastic brick-based building toy, but this video might make you reconsider. Brian Anderson is a YouTuber who has created other video game/LEGO mashups before (which haven’t been officially made already, mind you) such as The Last Of Us. His Red Dead Redemption take brings the ending of the previous game and dresses it all up in the style of the LEGO video games, specifically the newer iterations which introduced the cover mechanic absent from early classics. Using the iconic HUD first introduced in 2005’s LEGO Star Wars: The Video Game with the two character portraits in the two top corners and the stud bar in the top middle, recreating John Marston and his family as Lego minifigures, Anderson created an accurate reflection of what Red Dead would look if it were licensed. The video adapts the ending of Red Dead Redemption and thus contains huge spoilers for the storyline, though Anderson adds his own twist to the events unlike what was shown in the game proper. He gives a nod towards the hit HBO series Westworld, a show which fans have already likened to Red Dead plenty of times. While seeing Red Dead Redemption, serious and mature a game as it is, represented with Lego bricks and figures may seem strange, this sure is a remake we’d love to play. I wonder if Anderson will make a Lego take on Red Dead Redemption 2 when it’s finally released? The post Red Dead Redemption Rebuilt With LEGO appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

The Red Dead fan community has weathered two delays and long bouts of radio silence from Rockstar Games, yet managed to maintain hype and excitement in the face of barely any information being provided about Red Dead Redemption 2. When Rockstar announced the latest delay, they also stated that we’ll get more info in “the coming weeks” – that was a month ago. It was easy to get one’s hopes up upon reading that announcement (aside from the actual delay of course!), as many games see pretty active and lively pre-release marketing, and Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar’s previous release, though similar initially, also had a lot more hype material going for it. The “coming weeks” statement felt like it would mark the end of the general “lack of info” that characterized the first year of waiting for Red Dead Redemption 2 and that things would be kicked into gear. Alas, after a month, there hasn’t been a peep from Rockstar. While we did receive a batch of new screenshots with each delay announcement and two trailers in total, that’s not a lot to show for over a year of anticipation, and we’re already almost half a year beyond the game’s initial launch period. To think that at one point we assumed we’d have been playing the game for months come today, and yet here we are knowing barely anything about it! So what has been keeping the hype alive in the meantime? Even if a game is really popular, such persistent silence is bound to erode the excitement, right? In the case of Red Dead Redemption 2, that’s only partially correct. While the community interaction seen on forums and other discussion boards has decreased, it has only done so marginally, and engagement it still maintained. At the same time, the press is still all over the game producing a torrent of coverage of… nothing, really. Something about the game is drawing people in with such attraction that even the lack of information from any official source isn’t stimying the hype the game has accrued. While feeding off the fame and popularity of the previous title in the series, Red Dead Redemption from 2010, has undoubtedly helped, this is nonetheless unusual dedication from the fanbase. In any case, we remain hopeful that “the coming weeks” does not refer to the very loose interpretation of that statement which could mean any amount of weeks between the announcement of the delay and the game’s actual launch. While saying “any day now” may ring hollow after all this time, it’s still in Take-Two’s and Rockstar’s best interests to keep Red Dead Redemption 2 in the spotlight. The post It’s Been A Month Since Rockstar Promised More Info In “Coming Weeks” appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

We finally have a concrete release date for Red Dead Redemption 2, though the cost was yet another delay. Publisher Take-Two is confident that there will be no more delays and the game will be released on the 26th of October this year, meaning that its marketing machine will soon be kicked into overdrive. Though it’s official canon that Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto (as well as Manhunt) share a fictional universe, there has never been any real connection between them. That said, Rockstar did previously create an indirect link between the two franchises with a cross-promotion between GTA Online and Red Dead Redemption 2. The promo had GTA Online players go on a short scavenger hunt to unlock a special gold-plated revolver. After acquiring this weapon, they had to complete a headshot challenge to then unlock an extra reward: some in-game currency and an identical weapon skin for Red Dead Online, provided they play the upcoming game with the same Rockstar Social Club account. Such cross-promotions are hardly a new thing. Bioware had a cross-DLC item in Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2. If you unlocked the Blood Dragon Armor in one game you got it in the other as well, with keys usually being bundled with physical copies of either game. More recently, Square Enix and Ubisoft also held a rather odd cross-promo between Assassin’s Creed: Origins and Final Fantasy XV. However, could more cross-promotions be coming along, and could some of them be more substantial than a mere weapon skin? Rockstar has a sizeable opportunity before them to further link three of their most popular franchises and have them build off one another, a bit like what the cinematic universes of large movie studios are doing, but in terms of video games. Red Dead Redemption 2 essentially takes place a century before the GTA timeline, but in the same fictionalized version of the USA. Maybe the next promotion could have some kind of mission-text refer to West Elizabeth in GTA Online, or have the player character meet an NPC who is a descendant of one of the Red Dead characters… maybe a member of the Moon lineage with a similar disposition as good old Herbert? We’ve often written about the divide between the general audience of GTA and the general audience of Red Dead, and how GTA enjoys a larger player base due to mainstream draw. With further direct references to the Red Dead franchise within GTA Online in gameplay form, Rockstar can tap the mainstream popularity they’ve built for GTA over the course of two decades. With GTA Online’s ballooning player base and constant growth, it too, in spite of being another product in the company’s lineup, is also one of the most ideal venues of marketing that is guaranteed to reach a lot of potential buyers. While treating games as an advertising platform may be a troubling path to walk down, it does make sense in this particular case. Either way, we hope to hear more about the game in any shape or form, as Rockstar recently stated to wait for further news ‘in the coming weeks’ weeks ago… The post Can We Expect More Red Dead Redemption And GTA Cross-Promotions? appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Red Dead Redemption 2, over the course of two delays, is going to be released a whole year late. Initially slated for a Fall 2017 launch, the game is now arriving October 26th, 2018. And yet Take-Two Interactive stockholders don’t seem miffed. Delays like this can be catastrophic events for publicly traded companies of any industry, which is why more often than not you get half-assed products rushed out to meet the first deadline and then fixed later on (or not). Because hitting that deadline and raking in those initial sales, before news of any problems and errors makes the rounds, is usually more important than longevity. This same pressure to hit early sales targets obviously applies to games as well. So many times we hear of developers buckling under the influence and demands of publishers, leading to buggy, half-finished games which get extensive patches post-release to fix them up. Or, even worse, sometimes the affected game is immediately put on life support – provided pre-order and day-one revenue is enough of course. It’s a scummy practice for sure and a few AAA companies are known for pulling it quite often. Rockstar has never been among those. Rockstar has a well-earned reputation of almost embracing delays, and making no compromise with quality. And for us gamers, this is the better alternative. We may have to wait, but we’re guaranteed to get a solid, stable and high-quality product. Sure, a whole ‘nother year may be hard, but it’s better than a quick disappointment. So what is it about Rockstar that doesn’t make investors hit the panic button the second Strauss Zelnick utters the word “delay”? Simple – they know it isn’t a major revenue headache for Take-Two. Grand Theft Auto Online, the gift that keeps on giving, is a major source of income, and Rockstar Games has a reputation to uphold of delivering quality games, which in the long run will deliver more earnings for the company. So, as players, why should this interest you at all? Mainly, because several AAA publishers – Activision-Blizzard with Destiny 2 most recently and EA… well, with almost everything – have been known to generally rush games or fill them with nonsensical price-gouging crap precisely due to investor pressure. Investors being unhappy usually leads to a bunch of anti-consumer nonsense, and if nothing else, makes development particularly troubled. As Take-Two’s share price dipped merely 1.5% a day after the delay’s announcement, it’s clear that its stockholders aren’t particularly worried, meaning the especially influential ones won’t start butting into development, trying to exert more control, or push for more invasive monetization to make up for the delay when the game finally gets released. While it’s already practically confirmed that Red Dead Redemption 2 will feature microtransactions, the industry has shown that there exists both better and worse ways of implementing them. When more concrete details about the microtransactions in Red Dead Redemption 2 are revealed, we’ll definitely be covering it. The post Red Dead Redemption 2’s Delays Don’t Bother Investors appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Slowly but steadily we’re drawing closer to the eventual release of Red Dead Redemption 2. Following yet another delay to October 26, 2018, Rockstar Games stated that we can expect further details to be revealed in the coming weeks. Around the same time, a major but unverified leak may have revealed a large chunk of the game’s features, both in single player and in the multiplayer Red Dead Online mode – and one particular element of the latter raised some questions. Firstly though, we need to review some of the other elements of this issue. Recently, Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick more or less confirmed that microtransactions would be present in Red Dead Redemption 2 by saying that the company seeks to implement “recurrent consumer spending opportunities” into all upcoming releases. While after the success of microtransactions in Grand Theft Auto 5 it was basically a given that Red Dead Redemption will have something similar, hearing it from the boss man himself made them a near certainty. GTA Online, which features microtransactions, also contains an unopened Casino. Rockstar has teased opening it up with gambling gameplay in the past, and it seems like a perfect fit for the game’s setting too. However to this day the in-game casino remains closed and one of the best bets as to why is because it would cause legal trouble (as in gambling with $GTA bought with real money via Shark Cards). All this brings us to the question of Red Dead Online and gambling. Gambling was present in Red Dead Redemption and its multiplayer mode, and was a fan favorite feature. Players mention it fondly on various online discussion platforms to this day. Since it’s mostly guaranteed at this point that Red Dead Online will feature microtransactions, the future of multiplayer gambling in the title is in question. There are, of course, a lot of unknown factors. The leak mentioned above indicates that the game will feature gambling minigames in multiplayer, but the leak hasn’t been verified nor does it specify the details of said gambling. One way out could be by having players bet items, not amounts of money. If items won via gambling couldn’t be sold at in-game shops, then the real-money economy isn’t affected. Maybe this would be OK, maybe it wouldn’t… (I’m no lawyer sorry). Another thing to consider is that we don’t know the nature of Red Dead Redemption 2’s microtransactions. While GTA’s model turned out to be extremely successful, that doesn’t necessarily mean the same model will work for another franchise. Maybe players won’t be buying in-game currency directly, but items, or standard currency and “premium” currency will be dealt with separately, unlike GTA Online’s unified format. The minimal gambling present in GTA Online via racing also raises the question of just how far anti-gambling laws can be stretched. Maybe the gambling in Red Dead Online will be present and will use the same currency as microtransactions, but have bet limits enforced and won’t be a pronounced feature, more of a little semi-secret mini-game like the race betting is. Either way, this question about in-game gambling in Red Dead Online shines light on just how little we know about the microtransaction set-up that Rockstar and Take-Two are planning for the game. Hopefully the next few weeks will see details published which clear things up. The post Gambling In Red Dead Online – How Will It Work With Microtransactions? appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Take-Two Interactive’s quarterly investor call took place on the 7th, and just like we suggested, some major Red Dead Redemption 2 news dropped before it – namely, a delay coupled with a concrete release date. We now know that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be released October 26th, 2018. The delay is Red Dead Redemption 2’s second. Initially, the game was slated for a Fall 2017 release, which was first pushed back to Spring 2018, and now to October, meaning the game slipped a whole full year beyond the first announced window. While games usually delayed for the sake of further polish turn out for the better (just look at The Witcher 3) fans and investors would of course still like the game to launch sooner rather than later. While giving a concrete release date instead of a several-month window looks promising, it hardly acts as a guarantee, and after two delays, the question of whether this date can be believed had to be asked. In response, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick assured investors that he’s confident in the game’s current release date – though that is something he’s said before. Zelnick explained that the company has always prided itself on the quality of their games, and that the excellence they strive for is more important than the speed with which they release their titles, or financial concerns for that matter. As such, when Rockstar asked for more time to polish the game, Take-Two was happy to give it. This release date will also put Red Dead Redemption 2 right before, or arguably at the very beginning, of the holiday season, which has many benefits in terms of sales – not that Red Dead Redemption 2 should really need any help in that regard. Zelnick highlighted this boon, and stated that the company doesn’t intend to waste this opportunity, so they’ll try and stick to the release date. Zelnick then went on an aside to praise, in general terms, the folks over at Rockstar working on Red Dead Redemption 2. With all the hype surrounding the game, we should hope that it’s going to be a masterpiece, and Zelnick seems confident in this (though a businessman pushing their own product isn’t anything new). He also reiterated that the development team is committed to the quality of the game above all else, without any financial motivations. Fan reaction to this investor call hasn’t been too peachy though. Many who are eager to play Red Dead Redemption 2 pointed out that this isn’t the first time Take-Two’s CEO was “confident” in a release date, and mentioning the benefits of a holiday season release made it seem like the delay was manufactured, and the game is actually ready. On that note, it’s absolutely possible for a game to require this much additional work and polish, especially when its one on the scale of Red Dead Redemption 2, and has such high expectations to fulfill. This wouldn’t be the first game to have such a long development time and still need extra work. For all the talk about happily providing more time for polish, releasing Red Dead Redemption 2 as soon as possible is in Take-Two’s best interest. The notion that this is some conspiracy and the game is ready to launch right now, with the delay simply being made up, is nonsensical and would be a horrible business misstep that an experienced corporation like Take-Two just wouldn’t take. We’re also fairly certain that Red Dead Redemption 2 won’t get delayed any further. While other titles rather release sooner and fix things with patches, Rockstar is going the other route with these delays, but that doesn’t exclude post-launch fixes. Right now Red Dead Redemption 2 could be in a state that is indeed playable, and possibly even on par with other AAA releases, but this just means there will be less issues to sort out later – and no ridiculous day one patch. The post Take-Two CEO Confident In Red Dead Redemption 2’s Release Date appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Major video game leaks happen all the time. I can’t remember the last time Ubisoft was the first to unveil an Assassin’s Creed game, or when a significant chunk of the big reveals from any year’s E3 weren’t spilled beforehand. As such, leaks about Red Dead Redemption 2 are absolutely possible, but red (hah) flags are still raised by the prospect. TrustedReviews has allegedly gotten hold of some privileged inside information which none of us should know about. However considering that several days ago Rockstar stated (alongside announcing the delay) that new info would be revealed in coming weeks, it isn’t beyond the realm of possibility that some publications and industry professionals already have the inside scoop on what’s up, but were told not to blabber… and maybe some did. Either way, TrustedReviews have some fairly solid looking evidence in the form of screenshots that haven’t been pulled from trailers or released by Rockstar, but it does seem that they’ve peppered the legit leaked info with some embellished extra information that isn’t quite as true as the rest of it. Sifting through what’s true and what isn’t is impossible, but we are fairly certain that at least some of the leaked info is true. Details about both the singleplayer campaign and Red Dead Online are included. In terms of singleplayer, the leak also contained story details and spoilers, however the folks over at TrustedReviews decided not to spoil these, which on the one hand is understandable, but on this other comes off as iffy with regards to legitimacy. If you have such a motherload of info, just put the sensitive stuff behind a spoiler tag – that’s what everyone else always does. Allegedly, the site received the documents in August 2017, which would go against the above theory of an embargoed pre-press release, but who knows. Official info released since lines up with the info in the documents, which is why TrustedReviews concluded it’s legit and decided to spill the beans now. Some of the info on game mechanics is hardly surprising. There will be a day/night cycle dictating NPC movement patterns, as well as gambling minigames, stores, and a black market analog for purchasing less than legal equipment. Some specific location names have been revealed – Armadillo will make a return, and players will also be able to visit Ridgewood. There will be a wider selection of vehicles in the game, including minecarts, horse carriages and handcarts. Stats, including speed and armor, varies between types, however what level of customization to expect is still unknown. Trains will be used to travel across the world at a quicker pace, and players will remain fully mobile when on a train, which will be populated with NPCs for the sake of realism. Like in any good open world sandbox game, Red Dead Redemption 2 will feature a bunch of secondary optional activities and quests scattered around the map, falling into various categories. Fishing will be present as a playable minigame, with an attached skill, and the riding skill can be upgraded by completing riding challenges. Crafting is also seemingly confirmed for the game, though we would have guessed that without a leak. Known crafting materials mentioned in the documents include “Clamshell, Ghost, Night Scented, Rat Tail and Spider Orchids”, presuming Ghost is the name of a plant, and doesn’t refer to ectoplasm. Copying Grand Theft Auto 5’s Enhanced Edition, Red Dead Redemption 2 will allow players to pick between first and third person camera, both in single player and in Red Dead Online. Also like in GTA 5, animations will differ between the two, being adapted to the camera mode in question. It’s likely that the same is true for models and textures. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that the Deadeye mechanic is back, however this time it has expanded functionality. Think something along the lines of Witcher Senses from Assassins of Kings and The Wild Hunt, or pre-Origins Eagle Vision from Assassin’s Creed. It will help you detect clues, animals, fish, and track targets. Just like in the previous game and in GTA 5, traipsing around the open world will occasionally trigger random events, including scavenger and treasure hunts or bounties. Red Dead Redemption’s Mysterious Stranger character will also make a return to be as enigmatic as always. One surprising detail described by the apparent leak points at a slightly RPG-esque element of the game, namely that the single-player story will involve some branching elements and choices, changing the course of the campaign. Certain player decisions and general player behavior will alter events and scenes. Most Rockstar titles in the past were entirely linear, offering a single choice at the very end of the game at most. Like in Red Dead Redemption and the GTA franchise, a wanted system will be implemented. Though the documents don’t detail the full mechanic, we hope it will be more along the lines of the witness system from Red Dead Redemption, and less like the omniscient demigod teminator superpolice from GTA 5. Having a good ‘ole fistfight with the folks won’t bring lawmen down upon you, but murdering everyone in a saloon most certainly will. Allegedly, the game has dynamic enemy damage states, meaning if they are disabled without being killed, the player can force them to provide money or information. As for Red Dead Online, the documents have some info about the multiplayer mode as well. It will offer several game modes beyond the usual “freemode”, similar to how the Adversary Modes of GTA Online work. On launch, these will include something along the lines of Battle Royale (we knew Rockstar wouldn’t resist jumping on the trend) and two others called “Money Grab and “Revive and Survive”. The former is a riff on CTF, while the latter is a TDM mode with the added mechanic of reviving downed teammates before they bleed out. Ambient animations and the realism factor of the open world is said to be much more advanced than in the past. NPC AI will be more complex, and there will be greater detail, such as store owners packing up when closing for the night, or NPCs decorating their houses occasionally. There will also be ambient tasks and awards given periodically, such as reaching a travel milestone or killing enemies at long range. GTA Online’s property system will return and players will be able to buy tents, among other properties. Only the tents were mentioned by the documents, but anyone seriously thinking that’s all that will be available is nuts. Tents will be customizable, and multiple types and styles will be available for purchase. In game activities like Freemode Events from GTA Online will make a comeback, and quest givers and shops will operate like in single player. The documents also speak of a companion smart phone application which will be released alongside Red Dead Redemption 2. GTA 5 had one of these, as do many AAA releases these days, so this isn’t special or unexpected – which also makes it easy to believe. GTA 5’s allowed players to change their license plates, for example, but it is unclear what Red Dead Redemption 2’s companion app will do. This is the extent of the information posted by TrustedReviews. It’s unclear how much of this is true and how much was added just for kicks, but we’re pretty sure Rockstar will let us know just how accurate it all is in the coming weeks. The post Huge (Unverified) Red Dead Redemption 2 Infodump Posted appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Red Dead Redemption 2 has been delayed yet again. We called it, though that doesn’t make us any happier about the situation. Nonetheless, don’t be too disheartened. Previous delays in the name of polish always resulted in a better game and that can’t be a bad thing. Alongside the announcement that the title will launch on the 26th of October 2018, Rockstar also released a number of screenshots which might hold clues about the game. The last time Red Dead Redemption 2 was delayed, we also got a bunch of screens. However at the time we knew next to nothing about the game, and with no context to place the images into, they didn’t mean much. All we learned was that there will be dual wielding, lots of horses, and the game will look pretty. Since then, we got to know a bit more about what to expect thanks to a trailer and some basic info, so these new screenshots might reveal a tad more. Let’s look at them one by one. First up we have a moody shot with presumably Arthur Morgan in the foreground and other men in the background on horses. Morgan’s weapon is drawn, and the other three are coming at him on the road. Presumably this is a confrontation, however whether the strangers are lawmen coming after Morgan, or just unlucky bums who Morgan intends to rob is unclear. Overall, this screenshot tells us nothing beyond the fact that Red Dead Redemption 2 will have some baller particle effects. That said, one small, but very far fetched hint, may be found here with regards to how a weapon loadout will look like in the game. Morgan (if it is him) is holding a pistol, a rifle is resting on his back and a knife is tucked in his belt. Red Dead Redemption, and the more recent Grand Theft Auto 5, all had the player constantly lugging around their entire arsenal, with all weapons accessible via weapon wheel. In GTA 5, this has become decidedly problematic. Could we be looking at a more realistic, limited yet persistent loadout mechanic? In the past, when holstered, the weapons didn’t appear physically on the characters, or at most, the one currently selected did. Maybe in Red Dead Redemption 2, the number of weapons you can carry at any given time will be limited, however these will always be present on the player character’s in-game model. There are things to be said in favor and au contraire for both methods. The latter is more realistic, but also limiting and restrictive. At the same time, allowing players to carry their whole collection of weapons at all times is absolutely ludicrous from an immersion standpoint, and can lead to a cluttered interface, but is also usually more fun and liberating. The next shot definitely shows Morgan dual wielding pistols and firing at an unseen enemy off camera. First of all, holy crap does this game look good. Look at those wood splinters. Look at the subtle muzzle smoke. Look at the creases in Morgan’s coat. If they don’t eventually release this for PC where it will look even better, it will be a travesty. Dual wielding as a mechanic was revealed during the last round of screenshots, so mechanically nothing new can be learned from this image. Arthur is sporting a different outfit than in other images, but then not having multiple selectable outfits would be an odd step back for the series. His belt has bandoliers for bullets, but it’s completely empty so there is no indication whether the outfit dynamically updates to match ammo consumption. At most, we learn that Morgan is a brave chap, since he’s just wading forward while folks behind him are getting very shot. The next shot is a sweeping vista of a mountainous area, with once again Morgan and a horse. Nothing here is new – mountains, horses and cowboys are kinda the baseline for this game based on previous trailers and screenshots. Again, this is just more reinforcement that it will be one of the most beautiful video games to be released this year. Guess what is on the next image? Horses! Lots of horses! There’s also Dutch, a bunch of dudes and snow. The snow could mean three things. This is a screenshot showing a scripted section of the game played during the winter, or some areas in the game are snowy, or weather changes dynamically as you play the game. Since the last one is quite common these days, we’d say it’s a strong bet. More splinters! More fire! Particle effects! Wow! No relevant gameplay information unfortunately. While this might be indication of a stance mechanic, allowing players to take Morgan down to a crouch, then even lower to prone, and back onto his feet again, it could also be a still from a screenshot or a scripted animation. But hell, just look at the grime on Morgan’s hands. This next image is more interesting. Morgan is seen riding with a young woman who bears much similarity to Bonnie from the previous game, though it would be odd for her to be in Red Dead Redemption 2 in any major capacity since she’d have mentioned some of these events to John Marston, presumably. However, even if it isn’t her, this character appeared in the trailer as well and will likely play a prominent role in the story. This final shot carries no direct information, but I feel it is a strong hint that the game will have a kind of photo mode, similar to Snapmatic in GTA 5. Photo modes are more and more common in games, so it wouldn’t be strange for Rockstar to jump on the trend, and a gorgeous game like Red Dead Redemption 2 definitely deserves a dedicated mechanic that allows players to stage screenshots. Luckily, we won’t be forced to speculate too much longer. After such a long period characterized by minimal information and news, Rockstar stated in the delay announcement that they will be revealing a lot more about Red Dead Redemption 2 in the coming weeks, so expect things to heat up around here! The post What Red Dead Redemption 2’s New Screenshots Tell Us About The Game appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Rockstar has just officially announced that Red Dead Redemption 2 will arrive in stores on October 26th later this year. The news comes after months without any new information regarding the game and increasing concerns that a delay is inevitable. The only consolation is that we got a batch of new screenshots. You can check them out, plus Rockstar’s statement below. We’ll have more information and analysis on this latest development shortly… We are excited to announce that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be released on October 26th 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 post Red Dead Redemption 2 Delayed Until October 26th 2018 appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Take-Two Interactive’s investor conference and earnings calls have always been a volatile source of information. Things like in-game features are not usually discussed (unless it’s about monetization), but at other times hints about release dates can be dropped, or may serve as approximations of around when to expect news… News about Red Dead Redemption 2, in this case. The game, following its delay last year, is officially slated for a Spring 2018 release. Not too long ago we talked about how close that date is, and yet how little we know about the game, foreshadowing another possible delay. Time until spring is running out and publishers usually ramp up marketing for games around this time. Looking at other examples, we should have a better idea of mechanics, story, characters as well as more trailers and screenshots. Take-Two’s quarterly investor calls are just about the only predictable element of the news cycle regarding Rockstar’s games. The previous trailer dropped two days before one of these calls, and they have oftentimes been the source of info regarding Rockstar’s other big game, Grand Theft Auto V. The next one of these calls will be taking place about two weeks from now, on the 7th of February. It makes sense for calls to be held after larger-than-usual news is revealed, since these press releases usually boost the value of shares and make investors happy (investors love the big numbers that Rockstar/Take-Two games often deliver). Since the status quo of Red Dead Redemption 2 news is more or less equal to nothing, any announcement counts as “larger-than-usual”, but we assume Rockstar won’t break radio silence for any kind of minor announcement after all this time. If no news pops up between now and then, it’s almost a guarantee that we’ll be seeing a second delay. There isn’t much time between now and the launch window, and the current investor call will provide some measure of pressure on both Take-Two and Rockstar to show something. Red Dead Redemption 2 is going to be Rockstar’s first release in years and there is a lot riding on it. Investors are also really excited for the launch of the game, but obviously for other reasons than the fans. With time running out, as both the investor call and the launch window closing in, this is a critical period. You can be absolutely sure that some news of Red Dead Redemption 2 will crop up in the coming weeks. Whether it’s a delay or something else is the question here. The post Take-Two Investor Call On Feb 7th, Expect Red Dead Info Before Then appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

We’re just about halfway through January and Red Dead Redemption 2’s release window opens in just under three months. Thing is, at this point in time we’re seeing the exact same thing that preceded the previous delay, and most other delays in the AAA gaming industry. Namely, nothing. Three months pass by really quickly, especially when you’re looking at it from a corporate point of view. While for a fan that’s three months of waiting, for the devs and publishers that’s three months of crunch time: production, distribution, and performing eldritch incantations in the server room hoping that launch day won’t overload everything (like it almost always does). While Rockstar’s marketing machine shouldn’t necessarily be in overdrive just yet, it should be running much hotter than it is right now. Where are the interviews? The previews? The details on the game’s official website? The second trailer that dropped late last year might have seemed like a big deal at the time, but only because of how starved everyone was for info. Essentially, we’re still in the dark regarding the game’s mechanics and story. Basically, no-one knows anything, and Rockstar isn’t saying a peep. You can’t base an AAA launch on two vague trailers and a single batch of screenshots. So this means one of two things: either Rockstar will fire up and we’ll be flooded with info in the coming days and weeks, or there is almost certainly going to be another delay. Pushing Red Dead Redemption 2 to Fall 2018 wouldn’t surprise us at all anymore. Rockstar are known maximalists, and Take-Two know better than to rush their golden-egg laying hen, lest the egg end up being rotten. Red Dead Redemption 2 is going to be a major launch, the first in over four years from Rockstar, so there is definitely going to be a lot of fanfare around it. However as of now, there is basically none. In comparison to the marketing that Grand Theft Auto 5 got back in the day, things look especially bleak. Huge billboards, sides of buildings painted with murals, trams covered in liveries, online sites flooded, countless trailers, articles and so on… that was a major marketing push, and we suspect no less effort will be put into the publicity of Red Dead Redemption 2. Over the past year-and-few-months since the game’s announcement, there have been significantly fewer details revealed about Red Dead Redemption 2 than is typical among AAA games. While we’re accustomed to Rockstar being more secretive, they’ve been extremely tight-lipped even by their standards. The last truly notable “event” that occurred was that cross-promo with GTA Online, but even that only revealed what an in-game weapon skin might look like – not exactly major info. The announcement of the previous delay didn’t exactly happen last minute, but it was still fairly close to the release window that was originally announced. We’re holding out hope, but we’re also steeling ourselves for the bad news. You shouldn’t be surprised either if the next official announcement regarding the game is yet another delay. The post Are We Looking At Another Red Dead Redemption 2 Delay? appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Since Red Dead Redemption 2 was first revealed many announcements, rumors and other statements related to the game and its release have made the rounds. So many in fact that it can be hard to keep track of them all. With that in mind, here are the biggest, most important events leading up to the game’s launch. This timeline will be updated periodically to include everything pertinent to Red Dead Redemption 2’s pre-launch period. Current State of Affairs Spring 2018 is two months away but we also know that the game won’t come out in this fiscal quarter (which runs from January 1 to March 31). That leaves April 1 as the earliest possible date that Red Dead Redemption 2 could be released. So the time until the game’s release window opens is rapidly decreasing and the same signs we saw prior to the game’s delay are appearing now as well. However, we still know next to nothing about the game, save for the fact that it will have horses, Dutch, and a protagonist called Arthur Morgan. This current situation reeks of another incoming delay, and our current best guess is Red Dead Redemption 2 won’t be hitting shelves until Fall 2018. We’d love nothing more than to be wrong on this count, but things aren’t looking good. Timeline October 20, 2016 – Red Dead Redemption 2 Officially Announced In the days leading up to October 20, 2016, Rockstar Games’ social media activity already made it clear something was happening. They changed all their logos to black on red backgrounds, made their cover images follow the same color scheme, and then they teased a reveal for the fateful day, also following the same visual cues. And then it came – a mostly pre-rendered trailer and a name. Red Dead Redemption 2 was coming in Fall 2017, which, at the time, didn’t seem like too long a wait. The trailer didn’t reveal much about the game, save for showing off some nice landscapes as well as having an utterly ambiguous and ominous voice-over. No one knew anything about the game except for the fact that it was coming, but that was enough. Fans could also already pre-order the game digitally. December 2016 – Retailer Merch Sent Out Rockstar may have retreated into radio-silence, but some of the waves made by the announcement only hit the shore later on. Advertising merchandise to be used in retail stores, undoubtedly sent out around the time of the announcement, started trickling in and making the rounds online in December. Cardboard cutouts and boxes with key art were included, but none held any new information regarding the game. January 2017 – Retail Pre-Orders Open Starting in what was supposed to be the release year of Red Dead Redemption 2, fans who didn’t jump onto the digital pre-order offer when the announcement was made could now reserve a copy at their favorite brick-and-mortar store. Small cardboard pre-order slips, complete with the same key art we’ve been looking at since release, and a platform header, were distributed to simulate the excitement of driving home with the new game, except that drive would last for months (or so we thought). April 2017 – Sold Out (Briefly) On Amazon How can a game that hasn’t been released sell out? Technically speaking, resellers buy up a specific amount of stock from the distributor, and all this means is that the number of people who pre-ordered Red Dead Redemption 2 – just for the PS4, in this case – exceeded that number. Of course, all Amazon had to do was order in more stock, and pre-orders were open again in no time. May 22, 2017 – Delayed To Spring 2018 Plus New Screenshots Everyone was afraid that a delay would happen at this point, and so it was disappointing (but not surprising) when the official announcement came that Red Dead Redemption 2 would not be hitting store shelves until 2018. But hey, at least we got some screenshots, right? September 28, 2017 – Second Trailer After a few teases that new info would be revealed about the game, Rockstar published a new trailer which included a lot more content than the first. We finally got answers to some of the biggest questions, like which character players will control in the game, and whether or not it would be a prequel. Those answers are Arthur Morgan and yes, respectively. We also learned that Dutch will be present in the game, and that Morgan will be a bad guy, at least for some part of the game. More sweeping shots of the landscape, and a lot more in-game footage was shown this time around. December 15, 2017 – GTA Online Cross-Promotion The first direct link between Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Redemption 2 appeared in the form of a minor cross-promotion, where players of the former could unlock a golden revolver weapon skin for the latter. Players who complete a short scavenger hunt in GTA Online get a new weapon in that game, and once Red Dead Online launches, players who link their accounts will get the same weapon skin there too. The post Road To Red Dead Redemption 2: A Pre-Release Timeline appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Last year Rockstar caught everyone off-guard when they announced that L.A. Noire, the semi-successful albeit well-received crime drama game from 2011, would be coming to Nintendo’s smash hit hybrid console, the Switch. True enough, the game’s port launched in November 2017 as Rockstar’s first release on the platform. Don’t expect to see this…However, if the word of a leaker is to be believed, it won’t be their last game, nor last port, on the console. “DasVergeben” has a track record of correctly predicting certain events in the AAA gaming sphere, such as the addition of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to the fighting game Injustice 2, so there is at least a slight chance that they aren’t full of it. He posted a list of games that Nintendo will allegedly announce as coming to the Switch in their next Nintendo Direct broadcast, with Grand Theft Auto 5 being among them. The GTA port is referred to as being certain, and DasVergeben adds that Rockstar is also bringing something else to the Switch, which is very likely to be Red Dead Redemption. While some of DasVergeben’s leaks have been hit and miss, most of what he’s posted about Nintendo has been cross-analysed by the community and almost categorically confirmed to be false except for the claim of Grand Theft Auto 5 getting a port, as well as an unrelated claim regarding Mother 3. We wouldn’t be at all surprised to see a GTA 5 port on the Switch. Rockstar is clearly supporting the platform, and newer games like DOOM have also been ported, so the hardware is clearly capable. However, the idea of a Red Dead Redemption port on the Switch seems highly unlikely to us, so don’t get your hopes up. The biggest question for us in relation to this is why hasn’t there ever been any ports of remasters of 2010’s Red Dead Redemption? You’d think Rockstar would port the game to current-gen consoles and the PC sooner than it would port to Switch, and this would very likely be the case. However, so far all we’ve got are backwards compatibility and streaming from PlayStation Now. We don’t think that Take-Two and Rockstar would turn down obviously easy money, and Red Dead Redemption being remastered and ported is precisely that – unless there is something going on in the background. And as a matter of fact, we know of two such things. Well, one and a half really. Firstly, Red Dead Redemption had a famously troubled development cycle and it’s generally believed that the game’s code is somewhat of a mess. Going back and porting that, or even remastering it, would likely require substantial re-writing and optimization, even if Rockstar put the exact same people who wrote it in the first place on the project. In the end, the cost just may not be worth it. Second, we’ve long suspected that there is a legal reason to why so little is being done with Red Dead Redemption. Rockstar’s deal with Sony regarding Red Dead Online DLC may extend to much more, such as a guarantee to some measure of exclusivity for the PlayStation Now streaming service to carry Red Dead Redemption on new platforms. PSNOW is currently the only way to play the game on PS4 and PC, and it is one of the biggest titles on the service, which has received major criticism for its pricing scheme. Simply put, Rockstar may be contractually barred from porting Red Dead Redemption. Nonetheless, such a prospect would be hugely exciting. Not only would a port mean the first re-release of Red Dead Redemption, but the first time any game in the Red Dead franchise was available on a portable platform. The Nintendo Switch is a fantastic console, and its sales reflect this, which would also mean huge sales for Red Dead Redemption – not that it suffers in that regard anyway. We’ll be keeping an eye on this story, however we urge you to curb your enthusiasm. While it’s very likely that GTA 5 will be coming to Switch, we wouldn’t hold our breath for Red Dead Redemption. The post Rumor: Red Dead Redemption Coming To Nintendo Switch appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Plenty of online stores that offer a Red Dead Redemption 2 pre-order have specific dates shown for the game’s release, as opposed to “TBA”. However most of the time, these are placeholder dates that don’t reflect the actual launch date of the game. Today, the reason one such store is making headlines is because they accurately leaked the release date of Grand Theft Auto 5, Rockstar’s last big game, several years ago. If we wrote up a news piece for every store with a placeholder date, the site would be flooded with these articles. However, when Danish retailer Coolshop puts up a projected release date for Red Dead Redemption 2 (since removed), it becomes newsworthy due to a legitimate leak that occurred in their past. GTA 5, eventually released in September 2013, saw its fair share of delays and alleged release date leaks. However, the only source to publish its actual, real release date of September 17 before Rockstar did was Coolshop. At the time this leak was considered to be just another one of those seemingly random placeholders, until Rockstar’s official announcement confirmed the date. For Red Dead Redemption 2, Coolshop published a date of June 8, 2018. A date which has since been removed. That’s right, June. Currently, the official word is that the game will be released in Spring 2018, and Spring that ain’t. This means another, albeit minor, delay might be incoming. This, while disappointing, isn’t too big a surprise. After Red Dead Redemption 2’s initial delay, the fear of another was sown. And with complete radio silence ever since the release of the second trailer being enforced, things are looking a lot like the prelude to the previous delay. Once again, the time between now and the supposed release window is short, and yet there are no signs of a marketing push. A couple of days and we’ll all be correcting our instinctive datings to 2018, and Spring is a lot closer than you think. For the game to actually be released then, we should be seeing more of a media presence for the game, with tangible marketing materials rolling out in the coming months. Instead, the last notable thing related to Red Dead actually happened in GTA Online, with that weapon skin cross-promo. June 8 is still half a year away, which, in spite of not being a major difference to Spring, still instills a feeling of dreaded distance. Our minds work in a way that make the difference between “a few months” and “half a year” seem astronomical. Alas, should Coolshop be right about the release date yet again, all it means is that the dev team will spend a few more weeks polishing the game – and that’s not a bad thing. The post Online Store Leaks Red Dead Redemption 2 Release Date & Delay appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

In a completely unexpected move, Rockstar has revealed a new cross-promotion between the upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2 and GTA Online, also outing a game mechanic of the former in the process. With the Red Dead Redemption 2’s projected release window coming up, it makes sense that Rockstar would start ramping up publicity, and this is one of the best ways to do it. Note the Red Dead Redemption font used for the subtitle.GTA Online players can now participate in a scavenger hunt that tasks them with exploring the game’s map in order to uncover a number of clues which eventually lead to a Double-Action Pistol. The weapon itself is a vintage revolver with a gaudy gold and ivory finish doing decent damage. In order to unlock the weapon skin in Red Dead Redemption 2, players have to score 50 headshots with the pistol (this also nets them a nice in-game payout). The fact that the Red Dead Redemption 2 unlock reward is a weapon skin reveals two things about the upcoming game . First of all, there is going to be an equivalent of the double-action pistol in it available to everyone. Secondly, there are going to be weapon skins allowing you to customize your arsenal. This cross-promo is an interesting and fun way to engage with what might be Red Dead Redemption 2’s largest potential user-base GTA Online continues to break records and gain new players, and this scavenger hunt is free, available to all, and has some strong enticement going for it with the weapon and cash. This way a huge chunk of GTA Online’s mind-bogglingly large audience will have an indirect engagement with Red Dead Redemption 2, and incentive to buy and play the game. Sure, having unlocked a vanity weapon skin would seem like a pretty weak argument to drop cash on a full-price AAA title, but psychology proves that it works. Not what we mean by ‘double action”So what does this mean for the remaining pre-release period, and the future of Red Dead Redemption 2? The fact that Rockstar made this move shows that they know to capitalize on their biggest channel for marketing. Ads on web pages, trailers, billboards and so on did their job to market GTA 5, and they will undoubtedly do their job marketing Red Dead Redemption 2. However GTA Online itself has arguably become the developer’s strongest delivery method for marketing material. They have a multi-million person audience logging in every day who are already existing customers and to whom the Rockstar brand means the most. Toss Red Dead Redemption 2 references at them in-game and voila, you have your biggest publicity reach. Basically, this means it won’t be the last such cross promo we’ll see. Whether these will extend beyond the launch of the game remains to be seen, but Rockstar would be smart to keep it up – it requires relatively few resources and reaches a huge user base. Maybe interested gamers won’t pre-order, maybe they won’t buy day 1, but they might decide to jump over into the Wild West later on. This also means that Rockstar has kicked the marketing of Red Dead Redemption 2 into gear. We don’t expect much to happen in the final days of 2017, however when the new year dawns, we’re fairly certain we’ll be seeing a whole lot more of this game in the news, with new screenshots, trailers, reveals and details popping up gradually. Spring 2018 is rapidly approaching, and once again we’re starting to slip into that critical period of time where soon it will be too late to *start* the marketing push, which was one of the warning signs back before the delay pushed the date back from Fall 2017. Whether you play GTA Online whilst waiting for Red Dead Redemption 2, or you’re simply anxious to jump into the Wild West without engaging in Rockstar’s modern-day franchise, this is good news, because it means more info and news is approaching. 2018 is the big year, and it’s almost here. The post Red Dead Redemption 2 Gets GTA Online Cross Promo appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story

Speaking at the annual Credit Suisse Technology, Media & Telecom Conference – an event where usually Strauss Zelnick represents Take-Two – the president of Take-Two Interactive, parent company of Rockstar Games, developers of Red Dead Redemption 2, spoke a bit about how he sees the future of the video game industry. Digital distribution has changed the way many gamers buy their games and while the mainstream consumer base still makes retail the bigger market, trends indicate this will soon change. Digital distribution’s benefits to broadening the potential audience of games is vast, increasing the accessibility and longevity of games. What game store would carry 2011’s Red Dead Redemption on its shelves today? What if someone lives in a location with no game stores nearby? Digital distribution allows them to buy games from the comfort of their homes, and the selection of games on offer reaches back decades, spanning the breadth of the entire industry. Digital distribution also has budgetary and environmental benefits. All those discs, cases, cover sheets and manuals (provided there are any) cost the publisher money. That’s a chunk of budget that could go towards development, and actually making the game better and more polished. The retail copies need to be shipped to resellers, which also costs money and consumes fuel. Cases and discs will inevitably become waste at one point. None of these concerns stand with digital games. Digital distribution has also transformed the way content is added to games. While not directly linked, the trend of constant post-launch content support, with some games setting the example of adding free DLC to the game every single week, stems from the digitization concept as digital distribution does, and the two systems are entwined. In the case of DLC, it’s even in the name – “Downloadable” content. The reason why, for all its benefits, digital distribution hasn’t yet outstripped retail is that the majority of consumers are casual. In terms of percentages, the walk-in buyers still make up a larger segment of the market than the hardcore gamers. Simply put, the majority doesn’t much care about the benefits of digital distribution. Most people who bought Red Dead Redemption walked into a non-game specific store that also happened to sell games, and picked it up, or did so simply because of the Rockstar logo. The die-hard fans who followed the game pre-release, pre-ordered it and so on are the minority, but they are also the minority most prone to opting for digital purchases. Karl Slatoff predicts that the scales will tip soon – so soon, in fact, that he thinks the entire industry will shift to becoming 100% digital within the next 5-20 years. 5 might seem a bit extreme, but it’s safe to say that, based on how things look today compared to the early 00’s, in the next decade or so major shifts in the market will be seen. I think over the long-term, it will be 100% [digital]. I just can’t predict whether that’s five years, 10 years, or 20 years. It’s probably less than 20 and maybe more than five, but I think it ultimately gets there. That’s the zeitgeist. Things are moving in that direction. The increasing popularity of digital services that are integrated with games, even when bought through retail, are conditioning the average consumer to shift their views to digital distribution as the default instead of retail. Even if you buy a physical copy in a store, you’ll likely need to download patches before playing and register an account. You’ll have access to an in-game store, or the game will have additional content available only digitally. In extreme cases, like with the DLCs of Skyrim which for some reason got retail releases, you’ll go home, open the case and not even find a disc in there, only a sheet of paper with an activation key. Another factor that has hastened the shift to digital is how two of the biggest players on the scene, Microsoft and Sony, have weaved together their multiplayer services with their digital distribution. Since multiplayer console games lead the industry in terms of player count, this has the most significant effect of all factors involved. Anyone playing through Xbox Live or PlayStation Network will have bumped into their respective online stores a few times. Why I think it’s a little quicker than people imagined is honestly, Sony and Microsoft have done a really nice job with their services. You’ve got more people on Xbox Live, more people on PSN, and it helps. The friction is going away at a quicker rate because these platforms have been really well developed, and the consumers love it. Digital distribution has went from being nonexistent, to a new and strange experimental method, to being the norm. It’s logical to assume it will soon be the go-to method of buying games for everyone. Convenience is another factor, as this doesn’t require you to leave the comfort of your home, and this convenience factor is what pushed almost every other industry to embrace online shopping. These days, anything can be bought online, and people are buying everything online. Streaming has transformed the way people watch movies and TV, how they listen to music. The various services of sites like Amazon have transformed shopping, be it for gifts, clothes, books and anything else. Grocery chains allow you to purchase everything on your list and have it delivered to your door. If all these are going digital, it’s only logical for games – the best-suited product for digital distribution – to lead the charge and be the first to become 100% digital. This vision of the future is one thing, but in the present, the power of retail cannot be denied, and Karl Slatoff knows this. It will very likely still account for the majority of Red Dead Redemption 2’s sales, as it had for the majority of Grand Theft Auto V’s sales back in 2013 (and 2014 and 2015). Digital is more powerful than ever, and it will only get stronger, but retail has a head start of… well, the entirety of human history. The truth is physical retail is still the majority of our business, and very important partners of ours,” he said. “And we want to do everything we can to support that environment. And we do. They’re very strong marketing and distribution partners for us. But again, it’s out of our control. Whether we want it or not, it looks like it’s going to happen eventually. As distribution methods shift, other market practices shift with them. When digital distribution didn’t exist yet, or was very preliminary, post-launch content had to be released in a similar manner as standalone games. So, if you’re putting out a new disc with a whole new marketing push to let people know it exists, you might as well pack it full of stuff, right? These expansion packs have become a rarity in the industry, replaced by a new form of DLC and monetized content, which is far smaller, far more frequent… but not a lot cheaper. Monetization of content in AAA games is something of a hot topic currently, and Slatoff commented on the recent lootbox controversy as well. The whole gambling regulator thing, we don’t view that sort of thing as gambling. Our view of it is the same as the ESA statement for the most part. That’s going to play its course, but in terms of the consumer and the noise you hear in the market right now, it’s all about content. It’s about overdelivering on content and making sure you’re focused on engagement. That has been our strategy and where we’re focused, and as long as you keep your eye on that ball, you’re going to be OK. The consumer’s going to be really happy with what they get. While it might still be a while until we reach that point of a fully digital gaming industry, based on the speed at which Rockstar Games releases its titles, we might very well see Red Dead Redemption 3, or whatever the fourth game in the franchise will be called circa a decade in the future, get released in digital format only without any retail versions. The post Take-Two President Predicts Complete Industry Shift To Digital appeared first on RDR2. Read the full story