Red Dead Redemption 2 has taken a difficult road on its way to the PC fanbase. It appears that the title was well worth the wait for PC players, as they make up a sizable difference between the console playerbase and the PC one.
The Rockstar western enjoyed console exclusivity for a full year and a month in a fashion similar to Grand Theft Auto 5, then meandered towards a one-month exclusive time frame with the Epic Games Store in tandem with the newly anointed Rockstar Games Launcher. The slow and plodding movement of Red Dead Redemption 2 towards PC players arguably encouraged the backlash the title received when it released on Steam to crashes, performance issues, and difficulties unpackaging the title thanks to the inexplicable intertwining of Steam and the Rockstar Games Launcher.
The woeful days of Red Dead Redemption 2 are behind, however, thanks to a massive spike in reviews on PC that began on the first day of the 2020 Steam Autumn Sale, moving the title from "Mixed" to "Very Positive" in the span of a singular sale. Rockstar then wisely doubled-down on the idea to get more players into Red Dead Online, offering a limited-time sale of the title for $4.99 on Steam.
Today's report from SuperData noted that Red Dead Redemption 2 "hit its highest level ever in January" on the PC, three times higher than what the consoles managed to move during the months of December and January. PC consisted of a total of 1.8 million purchases, while consoles for the same period managed roughly 611,000. More people are playing Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC than ever, including during the launch month.
It's worth noting the staggered release of the two titles when comparing these numbers, although not enough to disregard the new information entirely. While console players have likely had their fill of the drawling and amicable Arthur Morgan in the three years since release, resulting in inevitably lower sales, the staggering volume sold to PC gamers seems to dwarf the statement.
SuperData notes that the shift in platform popularity could be due to the overall power that PC offers along with the steep sales that Rockstar opted for. When one adds to the idea that the PC platform offers the ability to mod titles, adding more content, the shift away from consoles over time paints a very obvious picture.
The title hasn't been popular enough to rank in the worldwide top-ten grossing titles for January 2021, however: Dungeon Fighter Online continues its unabated streak as #1, edging out League of Legends (#2), World of Warcraft West (#5), and Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (#7).
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available for PC, PS4, Xbox One, and Stadia.
Source: SuperData