As Red Dead Redemption 2 continues to smash Steam records three years after release, Take-Two admits expectations have been exceeded

Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive has admitted Red Dead Redemption 2 continues to sell better than the publisher thought it would.

As part of its Q3 2023 quarterly earnings presentation, Take-Two Interactive has revealed that the cowboy game has now sold 50 million copies in total, bringing the entire series to 70 million in sales. A more recent win has been Steam, with Red Dead Redemption 2 reportedly ranking as the top-selling game for the quarter and third for 2022. 

"We were [...] pleased with the performance of Red Dead Redemption 2, which outpaced our expectations, driven by successful holiday promotions and events," Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick says.

As we previously reported, Red Dead Redemption 2 has seen consistent new concurrent player peaks on Steam in the latter half of 2022. A big ol' sale was the reason for that initially, but then it just kept on happening.

A large part of its sustainability is the strong community that has formed around the game – heck, remember that one Red Dead Redemption 2 fan with nearly 6,000 hours on Stadia? While that bodes well for the game's health, it's also a community that feels somewhat starved of content. Just this time last year, Red Dead Online players launched a revival campaign hoping to catch Rockstar's eye, with one player going as far as to lay out a five-year plan.

The fact Red Dead Redemption 2 is doing better than Take-Two would expect makes for pleasant reading, though it may offer little comfort to long-term fans unless it's actioned upon with a more vibrant update cadence with more meaningful content. 

Here are some great games like Red Dead Redemption 2 to storm the old west with.