Red Dead Redemption 2 ships 17 million copies in less than three weeks

Rockstar’s no stranger to raking in the big bucks with their releases. The Grand Theft Auto series always does gangbusters and their other games usually do respectable numbers, though nothing too out of this world. The original Red Dead Redemption has grown over time thanks to the critical acclaim and fans wanting to catch up on the series before the sequel but now, the sequel has surpassed the original’s entire sales.

That’s right, Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold-in over 17 million copies as of November 7th, 2018 which is more than its predecessor has sold in its entire eight years of existence. The western sequel surpassed the original within the game’s first eight days according to Rockstar’s parent company, Take-Two.

“On October 26^th, Rockstar Games launched its highly-anticipated Red Dead Redemption 2, the label’s first game built from the ground up for the current console generation. Red Dead Redemption 2 has received outstanding reviews, with numerous critics awarding the title a perfect score. The title is now tied with Grand Theft Auto V as the highest rated title on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a 97 Metacritic score,” said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick.

“A massive commercial success, Red Dead Redemption 2 has set numerous records, including achieving the biggest opening weekend in the history of entertainment, with over $725 million in retail sell-through during its first three days. Red Dead Redemption 2 sold-in more units in its first 8 days than the original blockbuster Red Dead Redemption sold in its first 8 years and, as of today, the title has sold-in over 17 million units worldwide.”

To be clear, sold-in is the term used to describe copies shipped to retailers rather than sold-through which is how many copies have made it into the hands of consumers. It’s still nothing to scoff at and means that stores are rapidly selling copies and they’ll likely get over the 20 million mark with the holiday season.

If Rockstar moves those units into hands of players, they’ll be looking roughly at a minimum of just over $1 billion, that’s not even taking into account the various more expensive special editions.

This news comes after a record-breaking release which saw Red Dead Redemption 2 take the title of the biggest entertainment opening weekend in history. That means it beat out any Star Wars or Avengers movie, any game release, etc etc, Red Dead Redemption 2 is at the top. It made a massive $725 million in its first three days on the market alone.

Red Dead Redemption 2 has received universal acclaim for critics including us where we gave the game an outstanding 10/10 rating for its captivating story, unparalleled world, and level of immense detail. We also wrote a separate piece talking about some spoiler-y aspects of the game and how they build on critiques of past Rockstar titles.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is out now on Xbox One and PS4 with a rumored PC version coming in the future.