Red Dead Redemption 2’s online mode’s has had something of a rocky road so far: with its griefing woes, lack of content and economic issues to rival post-Brexit Britain, it’s safe to say many are feeling the mode hasn’t lived up to expectations.
Despite this, Take-Two says it’s been more successful than GTA Online during the same stage. Oh, and Red Dead Online is also due to come out of beta within the next two months. Now that is a twist.
The news comes from Take-Two’s quarterly earnings call, in which Rockstar’s parent company detailed its current finances and annual successes (via Seeking Alpha). When asked about plans for content updates, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick stated that “Red Dead Online is performing better than Grand Theft Auto Online did at the same stage of the game”.
Zelnick explained this could be drawn from comparing “the initial release and the movement into beta”, although he didn’t detail exactly how Take-Two is measuring this success. Money? Player base? Cans of beans consumed?
Along with the obscure comment, Take-Two promised to keep Red Dead Online updated with “significant new content” and a wide array of “gameplay balancing and bug fixes”. The mode is due to officially come out of beta “in the current quarter” – so we can expect to see Online in all its glory by the end of June, apparently.
Speaking on the overall success of Red Dead Redemption 2, Zelnick revealed the game has now sold 24m units worldwide. The pace has slowed significantly since release, however, as the game sold 17m within a mere eight days and reached 23m by the end of December. Red Dead Redemption 2 is also a significant distance away from GTA 5, which has sold nearly 110m units since its release in 2013.
While Red Dead Online hasn’t exactly received critical acclaim, and much of Take-Two’s language has centred on the promise of meaningful content updates, the mode is clearly doing something right – although exactly what remains a mystery. At least some people are having fun role-playing in spite of the mode’s issues, and Take-Two’s reaffirmed commitment means Online isn’t going west anytime soon.
