Could Red Dead Redemption 2 Be Delayed Until 2018?

There are two games set for release this year that have got me salivating with an-tici-pation. Those two are State Of Decay 2 from Undead Labs and Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption 2. These two games share something in common (aside from a ‘2’ in the title), neither one of them have been given a specific release date yet and just a rough estimate.

State Of Decay 2 developers – Undead Labs have said that they will be revealing a lot more of their game and even a specific release date at E3 this June… and I can’t wait. Yet Rockstar seem to be much less revealing about Red Dead Redemption 2. So far – all we have is a very lose ‘Fall 2017’ release with many people assuming this will be sometime in October/November. But I have a question, what if Red Dead Redemption 2 is delayed until 2018? You see, Rockstar don’t really have a great track record of keeping their games release dates. I mean, lets look at some evidence…

Grand Theft Auto IV

This was Rockstar’s big anticipated game for the last generation consoles after a 4 year wait since Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Grand Theft Auto IV was slated for a late October 2007 release for around eight months of that year, but it was not released in October of 2007 at all.

With just 2 months before its scheduled release, Take-Two (Rockstar’s parent company) Chairman Strauss Zelnick made this satement:

With Grand Theft Auto IV, Rockstar is setting a new standard for next generation video games. Certain elements of development proved to be more time-intensive than expected, especially given the commitment for a simultaneous release on two very different platforms. We all recognise that perfecting the game is vital and I can assure everyone it will be worth the wait. We owe it to the game’s millions of fans, to our dedicated development team, and to our shareholders to make sure that Grand Theft Auto IV is a groundbreaking gaming experience that takes maximum advantage of next generation technology.

What that all meant was that Grand Theft Auto IV was delayed until April of 2008 instead of its planned October 2007 release date.

Red Dead Redemption

For pretty much the whole of 2009, Rockstar kept tight lipped about a release date for their recently announced Red Dead Redemption, but many assumed the game would see an early 2010 release. Then Rockstar revealed an official trailer with a firm April 27th 2010 date seemingly set in stone. You guessed it – the game didn’t make its April 2010 release date.

We shifted the launch of the game by several weeks into the third quarter. We believe this is the optimal time frame to release what is being hailed as the next generation of sandbox games.

So the delay this time was only a few weeks as Red Dead Redemption actually hit stores on May 18th, 2010 instead of April. But believe me – after reading up about the game and seeing the trailers. Those few weeks of a delay felt like several months.

Grand Theft Auto V

It was in October 2011 when Rockstar formally announced that Grant Theft Auto V was coming. The announcement was also very similar to that of Red Dead Redemption 2 with an early tease followed by a debut trailer soon after. Rockstar originally stated that Grand Theft Auto V would see a Q2 2013 release – with many thinking an early summer date.

Then on January 13th, 2013 on Rockstar’s official site, they posted this announcement:

Dear all,

Today, we have an official release date to share with you: Grand Theft Auto V will arrive in stores on September 17, 2013.

We know this is about four months later than originally planned and we know that this short delay will come as a disappointment to many of you, but, trust us, it will be worth the extra time. GTAV is a massively ambitious and complex game and it simply needs a little more polish to be of the standard we and, more importantly, you require.

To all Grand Theft Auto fans, please accept our apologies for the delay, and our promise that the entire team here is working very hard to make the game all it can be. We are doing all we can to help ensure it will meet if not exceed your expectations come September – we thank you for your support and patience.

Yours,

The GTA Team

The strange thing is that this delay came from nowhere after months of complete silence from Rockstar since the official Grand Theft Auto V reveal. You know, very much like how we have heard nothing about Red Dead Redemption 2 since its official announcement months ago too.

Summing Up

It seem to me that Rockstar have been making a habit of delaying games. Let’s not forget that they also delayed Max Payne 3 from its original March date to May 2012 too.

Some delays are a few weeks, some are several months. But there is no denying that Rockstar have had all of their major releases delayed over the last decade or so. Yet all of these delays share one thing in common – they all come about after not hearing anything about the game for several months. And we have heard nothing about Red Dead Redemption 2 since its official reveal trailer back in October of last year…