Red Dead Redemption 2 had the second biggest entertainment launch in history

Second only to Grand Theft Auto V.

Red Dead Redemption 2 has achieved the second biggest entertainment launch in history by generating $725 million USD (approx. $1.023 billion AUD) during its first three days. The one game, movie, show, book or miscellaneous entertainment product it couldn’t beat: Grand Theft Auto V.

GTAV made an astonishing $1 billion USD during its first three days, and Rockstar now holds both first and second spot on the biggest entertainment launch list.

No doubt Rockstar will also tell its investors Red Dead Redemption 2 is the number one money-maker on the biggest opening weekend list. It mightn’t have made as much as GTAV, but that launched on Tuesday 17 September 2013. RDR2’s launch period was Friday 26 October – Sunday 29 October 2018. No other entertainment product, including movies, has had a bigger launch weekend.

Red Dead Redemption 2 also claims the honours for the biggest launch this generation, as the record-breaking version of Grand Theft Auto V was the original Xbox 360 and PS3 release.

Sony chimed in with its own stats, revealing Red Dead Redemption 2 had the most digital pre-orders, as well as highest day one and launch period sales, of any game on the PS Store. As there is a marketing deal with PlayStation, we probably won’t hear about its feats on Xbox.

Surprisingly, Rockstar has been happy to claim the records and throw out a cash figure, but hasn’t said how many copies of Red Dead Redemption 2 have been sold. If our maths is correct, it’s a lot.