Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has firmly rejected the notion that Red Dead Online represents a missed opportunity for the company, even as fans continue to express frustration over the multiplayer mode’s years-long content drought. In a recent interview with IGN, Zelnick pointed to Red Dead Redemption 2’s staggering commercial performance as evidence that the franchise has been anything but a disappointment.
The remarks come alongside Take-Two’s latest financial report, which confirmed that Red Dead Redemption 2 has now sold over 85 million copies worldwide. That milestone makes it the third best-selling video game of all time, trailing only Minecraft and Grand Theft Auto V — the latter of which has moved a remarkable 230 million units. Despite being nearly eight years old, RDR2 continues to attract buyers, a fact Zelnick attributes to the sheer quality of the experience. “It’s beautiful and it feels very up to date despite the fact that it’s not a new title,” he said.
Still, the elephant in the room remains Red Dead Online’s comparatively sparse support. Rockstar’s last major content update for the mode was the Blood Money expansion in July 2021, after which the studio publicly acknowledged it was shifting resources toward GTA 6 and GTA Online. A surprise update titled Strange Tales of the West arrived last year and briefly rekindled community hopes, but no follow-up has materialized. As Eurogamer reports, the contrast with GTA Online — which continues to receive regular updates and far greater developer attention — remains a sore point for Red Dead’s dedicated player base.
Data from a recent hack of Rockstar’s internal systems put hard numbers behind what many already suspected. According to the leaked information, Red Dead Online generates roughly $500,000 per week for Take-Two — a respectable figure on its own, but dwarfed by GTA Online’s estimated $9.5 million weekly haul. Those economics go a long way toward explaining why Rockstar has prioritized the Grand Theft Auto franchise when allocating development resources.
Zelnick, however, argued that Red Dead’s reputation suffers primarily from the comparison to its sibling franchise. “I think if we didn’t have Grand Theft Auto here at our company, then people would just talk about the fact that we have this massive franchise in Red Dead, which we do and of which we’re very proud,” he told IGN. It is a reasonable point — few games in history have reached 85 million in sales — but it is unlikely to satisfy fans who believe the online mode had untapped potential that Rockstar chose not to pursue.
Whether Red Dead Online will see renewed investment once GTA 6 ships remains an open question. Rockstar has made no official commitments to resuming active development on the western multiplayer experience. For now, Red Dead Redemption 2 stands as one of the most commercially successful games ever made, even if its online component will continue to be viewed by many as a road not fully traveled.