Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2 looks to be one of the hottest games of the holiday season if not the hottest. Even without any presence at E3, the game’s buzz just cannot be denied.

But Take-Two is taking its upcoming fall launch with caution anyway, just because it may not live up to Grand Theft Auto V’s stellar sales.

This was noted in previous comments, but Strauss Zelnick, CEO for Take-Two, talked to GamesIndustry International about the muted expectations the company is putting into the forthcoming sequel.

“We’re running scared too,” Zelnick notes regarding Red Dead 2. "I think a healthy degree of paranoia and insecurity about releases is probably a good thing. I'm fond of saying that arrogance is the enemy of continued success.

"We don't believe in our success until we deliver it. We never claim victory until it's occurred. We have very powerful, smart, capable competitors bringing great products to market and we need to win - that means we have to work harder than the next guy."

And he’s more concerned over the game’s quality rather than sales. "I don't think this is a numbers exercise around attach rates - I think this is a question of how phenomenal is the product, and does it capture people's attention and imagination? The answer is clearly it's going to do well, but it's very difficult to say how well. It's going to be a big success, but it's a question of how big?"

And yes, Grand Theft Auto V was brought up in the conversation as well. "It's hard to expect anything to perform as well as the most profitable entertainment product of all time," Zelnick stated. "I don't think that's a realistic expectation. Our hope, and also belief, is that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be an extraordinary creative product and that it will do incredibly well. Beyond that I can't say - I don't think anyone can say. We have to release it and see what consumers think."

In conclusion, Zelnick did note that while Red Dead 2 wasn’t on the show floor, Take-Two was to talk about it. "The show is really productive for us when we use the opportunity to meet our customers from around the world, to meet analysts who follow the company and to talk to press about what's going on," he said. "And while there are consumers here, it's not primarily a consumer show. We are more effective doing business here than doing promotion here."

It’s nice to see Take-Two take a precautious route with the game, although it’s sure to be a tremendous hit when it arrives on October 26 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

Posted: Jul 03, 2018 5:40 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: http://comicbook.com/gaming/2018/07/02/take-two-cautious-red-dead-redemption-2-sales/