Red Dead Redemption 2: Take-Two Talks Competition With GTA Online, Marketing Support, And More


During an earnings call today, Take-Two management fielded multiple questions about Red Dead Redemption 2. CEO Strauss Zelnick mostly dodged them, saying, as he basically always does, that you should expect announcements about Rockstar games to come from the label itself.

He did confirm a few things, however. Zelnick said 2010’s Red Dead Redemption shipped 8.5 million copies in its first year, going on to ship 15 million in all. He declined to share a specific unit sales prediction for Red Dead Redemption 2. However, he said he’s excited about the potential for the game to sell well and for its online mode to drive further engagement (and revenue) down the road.

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“Obviously, we’re incredibly excited about the title. Not just Red Dead Redemption [2], but also the online offering to come,” Zelnick said. “So Rockstar will talk more about the title, but obviously, there is great anticipation both on the part of ourselves and consumers.”

Zelnick also briefly discussed the marketing support that Take-Two will give to Red Dead Redemption 2. “We support all of our releases very significantly,” he said. “We’re incredibly proud of our marketing teams throughout the company and our support is quite significant for all of our releases.”

“I think you should expect to see, with regard to all of our releases, very significant marketing support,” Zelnick explained.

Last year, one analyst firm projected that Red Dead Redemption 2 will sell at least 15 million units.

Also during the call, Zelnick was asked what he thinks about the potential for GTA Online and Red Dead Redemption 2’s online mode to potentially compete for players.

“I’m fond of saying entertainment is an unusual animal, in that entertainment properties don’t really compete with other entertainment properties,” Zelnick said. “You never need entertainment. Entertainment is something that you want to have, but it’s not a need to have. If nothing in the market appeals to you at some time, there is no reason to go and get it, and if multiple things appeal to you, avid consumers will consume all of those things.

“So, I don’t think there is any competitive dynamic with any of our upcoming releases, apart from the fact that our success is driven by quality. So I think the success of [Red Dead Redemption 2], which is highly anticipated, will be driven by its quality, and I think that the ongoing success of Grand Theft Auto Online is driven by its extraordinary quality.”

Red Dead Redemption 2 launches for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this fall. You can read all of GameSpot’s previous coverage and watch all our videos here.

For more on Take-Two, check out GameSpot’s breakdown of the company’s newest earnings release.