The makers of Grand Theft Auto have another monster hit on their hands. Red Dead Redemption 2, the latest game from Take-Two Interactive Software’s Rockstar Games, posted worldwide sales of more than $725 million in its first three days.
Only one entertainment property has ever topped that initial three-day total: Grand Theft Auto V, the last game made by Rockstar. (That game made $1 billion in three days.)
The critically acclaimed open world action game set in the old west set a number of records in its opening weekend. It was the most-ordered full game in the history of PlayStation’s digital storefront and also posted the most day-one and three-day sales totals.
The news is likely to come as a relief to investors, who were getting concerned that Take-Two had not put out any sales numbers earlier. Shares are down 10% from mid-day Thursday, but are poised to gain 13% in pre-market trading.
The strong initial sales are good, but more importantly they seemingly create a wide base for Red Dead Online, the multiplayer portion of the game that is planned to launch (in beta) next month. (Take-Two did not detail exactly how many copies of the game had sold and it’s not a matter of simple math, as the game has been bundled with some console sales.)
Online worlds from Rockstar Games have proven to be tremendous breadwinners for Take-Two. Grand Theft Auto Online, the multiplayer portion of Grand Theft Auto V, has consistently beat sales expectations, several years after its release.
“We had predicted it would peak last year,” said CEO Strauss Zelnick last August. “So far, we’ve been happily wrong. … What we’ve found is when we put out new content, people are excited to participate and that affects our recurrent spending positively.”
The previous installment of Red Dead sold 14 million copies. And analysts have predicted this new installment will sell 10-12 million units in its first quarter.