While game developer Rockstar Games has been very silent about the sequel to its open world Western action-adventure video game “Red Dead Redemption,” it seems that the rumors and speculations are rife that “Red Dead Redemption 2’ will be formally launched during the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) 2016 in June.
The confirmation came no less from Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games. The exec said that Rockstar will be in the event in a big way.
As it is now, the only game that can make a big impact at the E3 2016 currently at the stable of Rockstar Games is “Red Dead Redemption 2” so it is almost sure that it is the particular game that Zelnick is referring to, notes the Youth Health Mag.
It was also Zelnick who said in a previous interview that “Red Dead Redemption” has the makings of a permanent franchise. A video game cannot be a franchise if it does not have a sequel so it was a direct hint from Zelnick that “Red Dead Redemption 2” is indeed on its way to being released to the PlayStation 4, the Xbox One, and the PC later this year.
Apart from their excitement and anticipation to “Red Dead Redemption 2,” some fans and gamers are hoping that the upcoming game shall have more quests and even stronger characters compared to its predecessor.
Rockstar succeeded in making each character of “Red Dead Redemption” remarkable despite having minor roles only.
But the developer also fell short when it was not able to do the same with the characters from the popular open world action-adventure video game “GTA 5.” Fans are hoping that Rockstar would not make the same mistake with “Red Dead Redemption 2.”
Long overdue
Fans and gamers of the highly-anticipated video game are in unison in saying that “Red Dead Redemption 2” is long overdue considering that the first game was released almost five years ago.
Karl Slatoff, President of Take-Two Interactive, confirmed previous reports that they have no plans of annualizing their permanent franchises in order to avoid franchise fatigue. He added that the strategy makes the brand more sought and viable too, notes the Parent Herald.
He said that Take-Two creates franchise value and release of games have to be managed deliberately. Slatoff added that while it is tempting to have continuous releases and milk a franchise as far as a developer or publisher can, they have seen the fatigue in other franchises in the video game industry.
Slatoff also said that with their strategy, almost every single franchise for Take-Two will be bigger than the one before it.
Bouncing back from a slow year
Take-Two has had a slow year last year but it seems that the company intends to bounce back big time this year.
It has already gone off to a good start this 2016 when “XCOM 2” received high review scores and is doing good sales-wise, despite being released only on the PC.
The company will also be publishing “Battleborn” in May, as well as “Mafia 3” and “Civilization Revolution 2 Plus” for the PlayStation Vita later in the year. But these games are not really the type that could make Take-Two’s presence at the E3 really big. So it is very likely that “Red Dead Redemption 2” is that game that the company is keeping up on its sleeves.
In fact, there are reports stating that the predecessor game of “Red Dead Redemption 2” is coming soon to Xbox One Backward Compatibility, which would only further the hype on the upcoming sequel.