Red Dead Redemption 2 is a video game about robbing and fighting your way through the US’s Old West to survive—and it made a killing this weekend.
Developer Rockstar Games announced that Red Dead Redemption 2 (RDR2) generated over $725 million in worldwide sales, just three days after it launched on Friday (Oct. 26). That’s the biggest opening weekend in the history of entertainment. Variety points out that the game even beat Avengers: Infinity War, which has the highest-grossing opening weekend in film history—although at $59.99, RDR2 costs significantly more than a movie ticket. Still, the game’s success was enough to send the stock price ofRockstar’s Parent Company, Take-Two Interactive $TTWO, up almost 12% on Tuesday (Oct. 30).
This also makes RDR2 the biggest entertainment launch of 2018. Earlier this year, Far Cry 5, developed by Ubisoft, was the top selling video game of 2018, which generated $310 million in its first week. Call of Duty: Black Ops IV beat that in October, generating $500 million within its first three days of sales, but RDR2 still beat them both handily.
And while Rockstar didn’t release exact numbers, the company claims that RDR2 is also the most pre-ordered game ever on the PlayStation Network (PSN), Sony $SONY’s online gaming service. In addition, Rockstar also notes that RDR2 generated the most sales on launch day on PSN ever. (Its near-flawless reviews are probably helping.)
However, the number one spot for the highest grossing entertainment launch goes to another Rockstar game: Grand Theft Auto V (GTA V), which racked up $1 billion in its first three days. GTA V was released on a Tuesday, however, leaving RDR2 to claim the biggest weekend opening to date. But while GTA V might currently be the highest-earning media title of all time, RDR2 is still gaining its fair share of accolades. And the game is just getting going: Rockstar plans to introduce an online multiplayer mode to RDR2, which it’ll being inviting people to test out in November. And if it’s anywhere near as popular as the online mode in GTA V, which is still played around the world even though it was released in 2013, Rockstar may have another long-lasting hit on its hands.
