Rockstar Games officially delays Red Dead Redemption 2 to 2018. The developer had initially announced by way of a trailer that the cowboy epic would release later in 2017.

In a post on its official website today, Rockstar reveals that it has delayed Red Dead Redemption 2 until spring 2018. The company explains that as the upcoming PS4 and Xbox One game is the "first Rockstar game created from the ground up for the latest generation of console hardware," it feels that "some extra time is necessary to ensure that we can deliver the best experience possible for our fans."

Rockstar goes on to apologize "for any disappointment this delay causes," but says that it is a "firm believer" in releasing games when they are "ready." However, the developer has released some new Red Dead Redemption 2 screenshots and promises that more details about the game will be revealed this summer. Perhaps Rockstar will finally show off some gameplay or the Red Dead Redemption 2 content that's set to come to PS4 first will be shown off during the Sony E3 2017 press conference.

As the developer itself seems to understand, this delay is heartbreaking for fans who have been waiting almost an entire decade to play the next game in the cowboy franchise. While Rockstar is notorious for delaying its games, many had their fingers crossed that Red Dead Redemption 2 would be one of few games that it didn't have to push back and would be ready when the developer first said that it would be.

But on the other hand, though, many fans will see this as a chance for Rockstar to do right by them. By the time the game is released, it will have had eight years of hype and that's a lot of expectation to live up to; if Rockstar needs to take that extra time to make the game perfect then so be it.

It will also give the developer the opportunity to address the concerns that Red Dead Redemption 2 will suffer from the same issues as Grand Theft Auto Online, such as being rampant with cheaters and leading single player content to be put on the back burner. In addition to delays, Rockstar also gets ire for GTA 5's multiplayer delay and its problems, but hopefully with its open-world cowboy game pushed back, both Red Dead Redemption 2's online and offline campaign content will live up to fans' hopes for it.

Red Dead Redemption 2 will be released in spring 2018 for PS4 and Xbox One.

Source: Rockstar Games