The probably best game of 2018, Red Dead Redemption 2, was only released for PC in 2019 with significant delay. This time, the Epic Games Store seemingly could not benefit from their early access to Red Dead Redemption 2 before Steam. Apparently, several hundred thousand Steam players could wait.
That was the situation: The handling of the PC release of Red Dead Redemption 2 was strange.
For a long time, Rockstar kept PC players in the dark about whether their game would even be released for PC. When it was finally announced, the popular platform Steam was left out in the rain, as the cowboy epic would not be available there until a month later.
These are the release dates:
- Red Dead Redemption 2 was released on October 26, 2018, for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One
- Then there was a long silence, and there was uncertainty whether the 2018 mega hit would even come to PC
- only on October 4, 2019, Rockstar finally announced the PC launch
- On November 5, 2019, the game was released on the Epic Games Store, Rockstar’s own launcher, and was otherwise available everywhere except on Steam
- On December 5, 2019, Red Dead Redemption 2 finally came to Steam
RDR2 struggles at Epic
These were the results in November: According to reports from market researchers Superdata, the sales of Red Dead Redemption 2 in November on the Epic Games Store were rather weak.
Allegedly, Red Dead Redemption 2 sold only 408,000 units in the release month of November on the Epic Games Store, significantly less than Borderlands 3, which had sold 1.78 million units in its first month (via hexus.net).
RDR2 performs well since it’s on Steam
According to new reports, the release of Red Dead Redemption 2 in December on Steam has now led to an increase in sales. Sales reportedly more than doubled in December.
Since the game has been available on Steam, 1 million units were sold in December, Superdata now reports (via superdataresearch).
The game ranked 5th in December 2019 among titles with the highest global digital revenues on PC, ahead of hits like Roblox or Call of Duty Modern Warfare. In November 2019, Red Dead Redemption 2 was not in the top 10 charts of Superdata.
On Steam, Red Dead Redemption 2 had an average of about 28,000 players and peaked at 55,000.
It is clear that apparently some players held out and waited an extra month to play Red Dead Redemption 2 on Steam.
This is what’s behind it: Some publishers currently prefer other stores to the digital sales platform Steam because they have to give away a higher share on Steam. Other stores, like the Epic Games Store, take significantly less percentage.
There is competition between the Epic Games Store and Steam for exclusive titles. This is often harshly criticized by players. Many players want to play new games on Steam because they appreciate the store and its features, and they already have their game collection there.
Moreover, the Epic Games Store is criticized for offering fewer features.
Therefore, players often announce that they will “only buy the game when it is on Steam”. However, these announcements are not always followed by action.
Normally, Epic likes to keep new titles exclusive for half a year. It seems harder for Steam fans to wait.
In the case of Red Dead Redemption 2, there was a special situation:
- Epic only had a one-month advantage over Steam
- the game was also available on many other platforms
- players had already waited a year for Red Dead Redemption 2
- and the PC release was also buggy
It is also clear that Red Dead Redemption 2 on PS4 and Xbox One in 2018 was a much bigger deal that generated a lot more attention than now in 2019 with the “aftershock” on PC.
