The past couple years have been somewhat inconsistent for Take-Two as 2016 wasn't quite as successful as they hoped and 2017 is now going to be a bit quieter than previously expected. Much of that is covered up thanks to how well Grand Theft Auto 5 continues to sell and be profitable after five years of being on the market. Naturally, it would be understandable to think that Red Dead Redemption 2 would have similar lofty sales expectations as well. Not so, according to Take-Two CEO, Strauss Zelnick.

In a recent interview, Zelnick revealed that he isn't assuming anything when it comes to the next game from Rockstar. While the company has high hopes for Red Dead Redemption 2, it's not being put in the same context as GTA 5 as Zelnick believes that title stands alone in this console generation. Since its release back in 2013, Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold 80 million copies and is available on just about every major platform from the last or current console generation. In Zelnick's eyes, gamers that are over 17 and have a new generation console no doubt have GTA.

GTA image

The second part of that equation is Grand Theft Auto Online which continues to break company records three and a half years after launching. Reproducing that sort of success all over again won't come easy, though Rockstar is working hard to create the best possible game the studio can. If another online component and microtransactions are included with Red Dead Redemption 2 as many expect, the game could come close to repeating those successes and easily surpassing the 15 million copies sold by its predecessor back in 2010.

Unfortunately for fans, the wait is going to be a little longer than previously anticipated as the western title was delayed earlier this year into 2018. While Rockstar hasn't specifically confirmed the reasons for the delay outside of more development time and polish, rumors have recently hinted that cross-play could be the culprit. Rockstar is rumored to be interested in this feature as well after the successes from games like Rocket League and Minecraft utilizing cross-play between platforms like PC, Xbox One, and Switch. Unfortunately, Sony has previously demonstrated that its not interested in this feature and with Red Dead Redemption 2 only launching on the PS4 and Xbox One, cross-play isn't possible without Sony giving Rockstar the green light first.

Red Dead Redemption 2 launches in 2018 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.

Source: GamesIndustry.biz