Seven years after its initial release, Red Dead Redemption 2 continues to prove that it’s still one of the best and most popular games on the market, even if it’s still technically not available natively on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S/X.
Sony just released the PlayStation Store’s top downloads of 2025, and Rockstar Games’ open-world western claimed the top spot on PS4 charts in both North America and Europe. The award-winning 2018 title managed to outperform newer releases and even fellow Rockstar stablemate Grand Theft Auto V on last-gen hardware.
For those who don’t remember, RDR2 has been on a tear for most of the year. Back in March, we reported on the game topping PS4 charts for three consecutive months, and that momentum never slowed down. Looking at the full-year data, Red Dead Redemption 2 claimed the number one position in 10 out of 12 months throughout 2025, crossing the 79 million copies sold threshold and becoming the fourth best-selling video game of all time. Only Minecraft, GTA V, and Wii Sports have moved more units.
Several factors contributed to this sustained success. Aggressive pricing played a significant role, with RDR2 hitting an all-time low of $14.99 during Rockstar’s Steam publisher sale in January. PlayStation Store promotions followed suit throughout the year, including Black Friday deals that matched that rock-bottom price.
With that said, discounts alone don’t explain everything. Rockstar surprised everyone in July when they dropped Strange Tales of the West Volume 1, the first substantial Red Dead Online content update in over three years. After effectively abandoning RDO in 2022 to focus on Grand Theft Auto 6, Rockstar threw longtime players a bone with four supernatural-themed Telegram missions featuring zombies, obots, and swamp creatures. The update wasn’t massive, but the “Volume 1” designation suggested more could be coming.
For now, RDR2 remains locked at 30fps on current-gen consoles through backward compatibility, which makes its chart performance all the more telling. Insider reports throughout 2025 insisted that a proper next-gen upgrade is in development, potentially arriving alongside a Switch 2 port.
Whether Rockstar actually delivers on this remains to be seen. The studio has never been one to rush announcements, and with GTA 6 consuming most of their attention ahead of its November 2026 release, RDR2 might not receive love anytime soon.
If it’s any consolation, Dan Houser himself called Red Dead Redemption 2 Rockstar’s greatest achievement when speaking with IGN at LA Comic Con in September.
Ultimately, the way that we see it, RDR2‘s 2025 performance proves that quality has a longer shelf life than most publishers realize. While other titles chase trends and live-service models, Arthur Morgan keeps riding into new players’ hearts at a steady pace.
If Rockstar ever gets around to delivering that next-gen upgrade, those numbers could climb even higher.For those who haven’t yet experienced what all the fuss is about, there’s never been a better time to saddle up, especially with this new mystery actively unfolding.
