‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ Release Date, Latest News: Game's Sales Estimated at 6M Less Than ‘Black Ops 4’

Fall 2018 is a very busy season for the gaming industry. An array of highly anticipated AAA titles are scheduled to be released around this time, including “Red Dead Redemption 2” and “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4.” And between these two video games, analyst firm Piper Jaffray estimates that “Black Ops 4” will be winning by around 6 million more copies to be sold.

Piper Jaffray revealed its forecast last Wednesday (via Wccftech) showing its estimates of sales by upcoming video games later this year. Game publisher Activision is looking at a possible major win this year thanks to the list of base games and DLC packs it has in store.

The analyst firm sees an average of 21.5 million copies of “Call of Duty: Black Ops 4” that Activision might be able to sell within 2018. On the other hand, Piper Jaffray estimates that “Red Dead Redemption 2” is going to sell 15.5 million copies. “Red Dead Redemption 2” is developed by Rockstar Games and published by Take-Two Interactive.

Though 15.5 million is obviously a huge number, seeing that “Red Dead Redemption 2” is estimated to sell less than “Black Ops 4” by 6 million is interesting. Both titles are much-awaited by fans. But “Red Dead Redemption 2,” in particular, will be rolled out almost a decade since its predecessor was released.

With that, one would assume that the years' worth of excitement built around the game might translate to a major win on the market as well. Looking at it from another angle, “Black Ops 4” might just have one major advantage over “Red Dead Redemption 2” — it is going to be available on the PC while Rockstar’s upcoming game is not.

The question of how much profit “Red Dead Redemption 2” can bring is also likely influenced by the massive success that “GTA V Online” is having even after five years since its release. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick also refused to compare how “Red Dead Redemption 2” will stack up against “GTA V” in terms of sales.

"It's hard to expect anything to perform as well as the most profitable entertainment product of all time," Zelnick told GamesIndustry.biz. "I don't think that's a realistic expectation. Our hope, and also belief, is that ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ will be an extraordinary creative product and that it will do incredibly well."

“Red Dead Redemption 2” is slated to be released on Oct. 26. Developers have only announced ports for the PS4 and Xbox One. "Black Ops 4" will roll out on Oct. 12 to the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Microsoft Windows and Xbox 360.