When Rockstar's quarterly report was released on Thursday, the biggest takeaway was, of course, that GTA 6's release had been delayed another six months. But buried beneath that huge announcement was the reveal that Red Dead Redemption 2 had hit an incredible milestone.
Rockstar provided the latest sales figures for some of its biggest games as part of its latest financial report, revealing that Red Dead Redemption 2 sold an additional two million copies in the most recent quarter. Not only is this an incredible feat in and of itself for a game that's been out for over seven years, but the running total and what it means for the wider video game landscape makes it even more impressive.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is the fourth best-selling video game of all time.
With an additional 2 million copies sold, the Red Dead sequel has 79 million copies left overall. This makes the game the fourth best-selling game of all time. It's amazing, but it's even more amazing still. With numbers that big, it doesn't happen often that one game overtakes another near the top of that list. But with 79 million copies sold, Red Dead Redemption 2 has surpassed Nintendo's juggernaut, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Nintendo updated its own sales figures earlier this week, confirming that despite the release of Mario Kart World, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continues to sell well and is well ahead of Red Dead Redemption 2, which was in fifth place at the time. Now the Rockstar joint venture has moved beyond Mario Kart and is setting its sights on another Nintendo game.
The third best-selling game was Wii Sports, which sold 82.9 million copies thanks to the game's availability with the Nintendo Wii. I firmly believe that if Wii Sports sales matter, then Astro's Playroom sales matter as well since it's technically the game that comes with the PS5. Unfortunately, Astro can't keep up with Wii Sports, but Arthur Morgan might.
Red Dead Redemption 2 continues to sell
There are rumors that Red Dead Redemption 2 will eventually get a remaster, bringing a fresh coat of paint to an already fantastic-looking game with its base PS5 and Xbox Series X|S versions. That would certainly push sales past 82.9 million, but even without a further increase, it seems almost certain that we'll be back here in six months, maybe even nine months, given how Red Dead surpassed Wii Sports.
After that, Red Dead Redemption 2 has nowhere else to go. Because the gap between Wii Sports and the top two may never be bridged. GTA 5 is the second best-selling game of all time, now at 220 million copies after adding another 5 million last quarter (seriously, who doesn't still own the game at this point?). And right at the top is Minecraft, which has sold an incredible 350 million copies.
- released
-
October 26, 2018
- ESRB
-
M (Mature): Blood and gore, intense violence, nudity, sexual content, strong language, drug and alcohol use.
- engine
-
rage
- multiplayer
-
online multiplayer
- cross platform play
-
Not applicable
