Update: Take-Two Interactive has clarified the reason for that Red Dead Redemption 2 delay in the company’s latest earnings call, making sure to emphasise that it’s in the best interests of the game and its fans.
“The purpose of the delay for Red Dead Redemption 2 is to make sure we deliver the most extraordinary we’re capable of providing,” explained Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick during the call.
When asked whether there was a specific element holding the game from hitting its original autumnal launch date, Zelnick said that wasn’t the case.
“We have not run into particular issues. We are building a new game from the ground up for the first time for new-generation consoles. And the pressure that we put on ourselves to deliver excellence and to delight consumers is extraordinary.
“We want to make sure that the appropriate time is taken to do the very best job we can and that’s what consumers expect of Rockstar Games and that’s what Rockstar Games typically delivers.
“So we support emphatically the label’s decision and we are utterly confident that it will prove in time to be wise first and foremost creatively and artistically, economically as well.”
Rockstar Games and Take-Two have promised the Red Dead Redemption 2 release date will be sometime in Spring 2018. But that’s now been clarified, with the game launching in Take-Two’s fiscal year 2019, which runs from April 2018 – March 2019. We’re expecting Red Dead Redemption 2 to launch in May 2018.
Original Story: In fairly unsurprising but sad news, Rockstar has announced that Red Dead Redemption 2 has been delayed into 2018. The game was due to launch in the autumn/fall of 2017, but Rockstar has now revealed the game isn’t going to make that target.
The news comes via the Rockstar Games newswire and to those familiar with Rockstar launches, it won’t come as much of a curveball. GTA 5 suffered similar pre-launch delays, but turned out to be one of the best games of all time, so was 100 billion percent worth the wait.
“Red Dead Redemption 2 is now set to launch Spring 2018 on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One,” came the official Rockstar blog post. “This outlaw epic set across the vast and unforgiving American heartland will be the first Rockstar game created from the ground up for the latest generation of console hardware, and some extra time is necessary to ensure that we can deliver the best experience possible for our fans.
“We are very sorry for any disappointment this delay causes, but we are firm believers in delivering a game only when it is ready. We are really excited to bring you more details about the game this summer.”
If Rockstar Games is suggesting we’re getting more info on the game this summer, you could expect an appearance at E3 2017 in June, perhaps at the Sony press conference on June 12.
It’s certainly a slice of bad news, but again, it’s not unexpected. GTA 5 was originally meant to launch in the spring of 2013, but didn’t actually launch until the September. This is a similar delay time, but if Rockstar’s track record is anything to go by, Red Dead Redemption 2 will be all the better for it.
So to make yourself feel the tiniest bit better, we suggest you do as Rockstar asked and digest these brand new shiny screenshots from Red Dead Redemption 2.