Will Red Dead Become a Mainstay Franchise?

[NewsBot]

Red Dead Revolver, the first game in the Red Dead franchise, was released in 2004, meaning the GTA franchise had a seven year head start on it. However, this still wouldn’t explain the discrepancy between the number of games each franchise boasts.

For just three Red Dead games, one of which is upcoming, we have 15 GTA games. So will Red Dead Redemption 2 kick off a busier future for the franchise, or is it going back on the shelf post-launch of the next title?

The thing with Rockstar Games is that they’ve always been the “guys making GTA” with nothing else hitting the same level of popularity. Only Red Dead ever came close, and it’s looking better in terms of installments than most others. There are two Manhunt games and two Smuggler’s Run games, with most other franchises being standalone. Max Payne is the only one which matches Red Dead at 3 titles.

While Red Dead’s few games is not unusual for Rockstar, another factor to consider in our comparison with GTA is how the developers changed their approach to development. Up until GTA 4, we got a new GTA game every one to two years, whereas we had to wait five years for GTA 5. Thus, the eight year gap between 2010’s Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 is a lot less strange.

Profitability plays a role as well. GTA has always been the massive money maker for the company, and while Red Dead Redemption was quite successful as far as games go, it still didn’t touch the records of most GTA titles. Naturally, Rockstar and Take-Two have a business incentive to push more GTA games.

However, Red Dead Redemption 2 has been getting a lot of attention in spite of the sparse info that exists, meaning it may become a success greater than Rockstar expects. Take-Two has expressed a desire to ramp up AAA production, and while this mostly falls on 2K, they might want Rockstar to put out more games as well.

Would monetary success in the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 be enough to guarantee more titles more frequently in the near future?

The IP definitely has the potential to become a big money maker. Ports or remasters of Revolver and Redemption would definitely sell, spin-off games for other platforms would increase audience reach (Take-Two seems keen on supporting the Nintendo Switch. A spin-off Red Dead title would be a massive boon) and with the recent acquisition of Social Point, they have a hand in the mobile gaming industry as well.

However, potential alone isn’t enough to carry a franchise. The question of Take-Two actually investing in such an endeavor remains. Red Dead Redemption 2 is carrying far more responsibilities than simply being a good game – it’s going to show the industry the new direction Rockstar Games is taking, it will be the torchbearer of the Western gaming genre and now, it’s monetary success will determine the fate of the entire franchise.

No pressure.

One possible pitfall that may doom the IP to sit on the shelf for another decade after Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstar’s and Take-Two’s aversion to rivalry – and if Red Dead becomes popular, they might see it as a rival to their prodigal IP, Grand Theft Auto. This dislike of competition is part of the reason why Rockstar generally skips video gaming press events and conventions.

We’ve still some time to go before Red Dead Redemption 2’s delayed release date rolls around for a bit of speculation, however once the sales figures roll in after launch we’ll have a pretty good idea of where the franchise might go in the future.

In the mean time, we can stare intently at a handful of screenshots while we wait for the next official breadcrumb.

The post Will Red Dead Become a Mainstay Franchise? appeared first on RDR2.

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[X S]

I'm not sure why there's so much discussion in comparing the two.  RDR is literally GTA: Wild West without the overly exaggerated and satirical social commentary. 

Also, the notion that Take Two and Rockstar are somehow adverse to internal competition doesn't make much sense.  Sure, it makes sense in terms of market cannibalization, but given Rockstar's tendency to value quality over quantity, it's evident that internal competition improved their games over time.  For example, things such as bullet-time, assisted aiming, weapon wheels, mini-map elements, button-mashing mechanics, etc.  Each successive game is a chance for Rockstar to learn what worked so that they can incorporate those new elements into future games.  Whether it's GTA, RDR, Max Payne, or LA Noire, they all have a little Rockstar DNA within them; it's noticeable.

[Jamesie]

Quote

One possible pitfall that may doom the IP to sit on the shelf for another decade after Red Dead Redemption 2 is Rockstar’s and Take-Two’s aversion to rivalry – and if Red Dead becomes popular, they might see it as a rival to their prodigal IP, Grand Theft Auto.

I also think that the online modes are competition to the single player content. GTA IV had two expansions relatively quickly and this makes me sad that GTA V hasn't had any .

We also were able to get Undead Nigthmare back then shortly after RDR2 but will a heavy focus on their online mode in RDR2 severely limit the single-player future content too? I really hope not.

 

[X S]

14 hours ago, Jamesie said:

I also think that the online modes are competition to the single player content. GTA IV had two expansions relatively quickly and this makes me sad that GTA V hasn't had any .

We also were able to get Undead Nigthmare back then shortly after RDR2 but will a heavy focus on their online mode in RDR2 severely limit the single-player future content too? I really hope not.

 

This is certainly a worry.  From what I know, Take-Two has been pushing the Online model, and it's actually making a substantial amount of money from it.  Who would've possibly thought people would buy fake money with real money?! 

I'm afraid to say that the days of Single-player Story DLC might be at an end.

[CowBoii]

I never understood why they wouldn't want this to be a mainstay game to begin with. They can rotate the years even. RDR2 comes out in 2018, so have GTA come out in 2020 or something like that. I know the next game is Bully but still. 

[watery buffalo]

14 minutes ago, CowBoii said:

I never understood why they wouldn't want this to be a mainstay game to begin with. They can rotate the years even. RDR2 comes out in 2018, so have GTA come out in 2020 or something like that. I know the next game is Bully but still. 

They will have other games as well. Like it would be great if they could do one a year but the more they do, the less we will see certain games. I know these are games that take a long time to develop too so we will see what happens eventually. 

[Jamesie]

7 hours ago, watery buffalo said:

They will have other games as well. Like it would be great if they could do one a year but the more they do, the less we will see certain games. I know these are games that take a long time to develop too so we will see what happens eventually. 

They generally make games that I enjoy though so as long as they're releasing a new Bully, GTA, L.A. Noire (maybe not this one for a while) or something similar then I'll be happy after RDR2.

[#SadCowboy]

They need to stick to doing the same games again and again. I wouldn't mind seeing them dabble in a futuristic GTA style game in the future. I talked to a friend about this years ago. It can be set in like the 3000's and be kind of like futurama. Have a large city with humans, bots, and aliens co-existing. A bit OT but I wanted to mention that. 

[RON]

57 minutes ago, #SadCowboy said:

They need to stick to doing the same games again and again. I wouldn't mind seeing them dabble in a futuristic GTA style game in the future. I talked to a friend about this years ago. It can be set in like the 3000's and be kind of like futurama. Have a large city with humans, bots, and aliens co-existing. A bit OT but I wanted to mention that. 

That is actually an interesting concept I have not honestly though of. I wonder if they could pull it off..?

I am going to make a thread for this in the OT section, I hope you don't mind. 

[DiamondDave]

What would it mean by a mainstay franchise? Like keep happening? 

I would have a problem with this only because it will start to pull away from the story I think. Like it will end up being different areas with different stories set in a certain time frame. I think they should end it here IF this one closes in on John leaving/joining the gang. I wouldn't mind this leading up to when John joins and then we get one last game where we can play as John Marston while in the gang. 

[elmZ]

is there really anything that would be negative about making this a mainstay franchise? Looking at GTA, that is like the "modern" story and RDR is like the "old west" story. You can constantly come up with great stories for both even though the old west isn't current. 

[shawn]

On 8/27/2017 at 10:58 PM, elmZ said:

is there really anything that would be negative about making this a mainstay franchise? Looking at GTA, that is like the "modern" story and RDR is like the "old west" story. You can constantly come up with great stories for both even though the old west isn't current. 

I have no issue with it being a mainstay title for Rockstar either. Seems like a great thing to bank on since a lot of games out there tend to focus on the future and a lot of gamers like me, prefer to play with history. 

[watery buffalo]

On 8/18/2017 at 9:25 AM, Jamesie said:

They generally make games that I enjoy though so as long as they're releasing a new Bully, GTA, L.A. Noire (maybe not this one for a while) or something similar then I'll be happy after RDR2.

Same for me. I have not really disliked one of there games and that says a lot. Each one had its own vibe that made it different and fun, most being even funny to play. 

[Looney Dan]

Question. What makes a game a mainstay franchise? Like if they have an RDR3, RDR4, ect? Considering they did a second one I can see them doing a 3rd, maybe picking up with Jack and ending it there.