The first “Red Dead Redemption” video game released back in May 2010 to a positive response from players and critics alike. Since then, fans of the series have demanded for a sequel from developer Rockstar Games.
After years of speculation, finally the developers confirmed that a sequel was indeed being made for the PS4 and Xbox One consoles on October 2016.
The initial announcement of the game also came with reports of a release date toward the end of 2017. This news excited the fans even more as they felt they would not have to wait too long to get their hands on the title.
However, on May 22, Rockstar Games confirmed that the release date for “Red Dead Redemption 2” was officially pushed back to spring 2018.
Why the delay?
During an earnings call on Tuesday, May 23, CEO of parent publisher Take Two Interactive, Strauss Zelnick, said that the main reason for delaying the game was to afford more time to the developers to polish the game further and provide the best experience to players upon its release.
An analyst further question Zelnick on whether the delay was due to a specific issue with the game design, to which he replied that that was not the case. Zelnick stated that the team just needed some more time to realize the vision of the sequel, which is being built from the ground up for the Xbox One and PS4 consoles.
The CEO of Take Two Interactive also stated that it was an “extraordinary understatement” to say that the company is confident in “Red Dead Redemption 2’s” ability to appeal to a wider audience. However, he also stated that it would be prudent to claim victory without having achieved it yet. For now, it is confirmed that the game in question would release in fiscal year 2019, which means it could hit shelves at anytime between April 2018 and March 2019.
Delay causes Take Two share prices to drop
After the announcement of the delay on May 22, Take Two Interactive’s share prices crashed. The market closed at an all time high of $69.04 per share, but the company’s price fell to just $62.90 due to after hours trading. Analysis of the share price drop revealed that it took place just after the announcement of the delay.
However, after the earnings call on May 23, stock prices rocketed back up. In fact, at one point it reached $76.70 per share, which is the highest ever recorded by the company. This return of stock prices would mean that people still have faith in Take Two and what it plans for the future.
