Red Dead Redemption 2 sales peter after launch surge

Red Dead Redemption 2 has now sold 24 million copies worldwide on PS4 and Xbox One, but those numbers indicate significant slow-down for a Rockstar game.

Today Take-Two announced its Fiscal Year 2019 earnings, reporting huge net sales earnings of $2.66 billion, and confirming Red Dead Redemption 2's monumental 24 million sales. Putting these sales into perspective shows Rockstar's outlaw RPG only sold 1 million copies last quarter, hinting sales are moderating quite soon after launch.

In comparison, the game moved a huge 23 million copies during launch and amassed $725 million in 3 days time. It went on to become the biggest entertainment launch in 2018 despite releasing in the last quarter of the year.

"Turning to Rockstar Games' phenomenal hit, Red Dead Redemption 2 continues to generate significant sales and to date has sold in more than 24 million units worldwide," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a recent Q4'19 earnings call.

Take-Two and Rockstar stand to rake in tons of sales with a release on PC. It's only a matter of time until Red Dead Redemption 2 finds its way on PC--two developers have listed the platform on their resumes--for maximum sales and microtransactions exposure. Like GTA V on PC, Red Dead Redemption 2 will bring its new monetized online mode for lots of long-tailed earnings possibilities.

Read Also: Rockstar dev lists Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC

Speaking of Red Dead Online, Take-Two says the multiplayer portion is actually doing better than GTA Online did while in its beta phase. "Red Dead Online is performing better than Grand Theft Auto Online did at the same stage of the game," Mr. Zelnick said during the call.

Red Dead Online is expected to take off and pull in strong microtransaction revenue earnings this fiscal year, driven by a strong roadmap of new content as the mode comes out of beta. It was a major contributor to Take-Two's $1.06 billion in recurrent consumer spending growth last fiscal year.