Rockstar already has a massive success on their hands. Announced via BusinessWire, Rockstar’s newest and critically acclaimed release, Red Dead Redemption 2, has made $725 million in worldwide sales over its first three days on the market. Thus, according to the report, Red Dead Redemption 2 has achieved the biggest opening weekend in the history of entertainment. However, the game sits second overall for biggest overall launch in entertainment history. That honor goes to Rockstar’s previous release, Grand Theft Auto V, which made over $1 billion during its first three days upon release in 2013, and would go on to become the most profitable piece of media in history. What differentiates the records for both games is the fact that Grand Theft Auto V released on a Tuesday instead of a Friday.
Having the biggest opening weekend ever wasn’t the only record Red Dead Redemption 2 was able to break. Sony Interactive Entertainment (SIE) stated that the game set records on their PlayStation Network. The game would become the most pre-ordered game of all time along with having the highest day-one sales ever before crossing the highest first three days sales on the service. This success could be attributed to Sony having the marketing deal with Rockstar to promote the game as well as select online content coming first to PlayStation 4 when the game’s online mode releases next month.
With all this success, Red Dead Redemption 2 did have to deal with some strife before being released. The game experienced delays after being announced in 2016. Rockstar also came under fire for comments made by one of the studio’s co-founders about the game’s development, while small independent shops are getting copies of the game late. Despite these factors, the game still found massive critical and commercial success.
It will be interesting to see how much success Red Dead Redemption 2 will continue to find. Hints at a future PC port of the game were found in the code of the game’s companion app. All this success also comes before the holiday season, so it can only be expected the game will receive a big holiday and Black Friday push.