Red Dead Redemption 2 is still killing it in 2026, and nobody realizes it

It’s tough, being a neglected child. All anyone wants to talk about right now is Grand Theft Auto 6. In a recent earnings call discussing its entire portfolio of games, Rockstar publisher Take-Two Interactive did, however, mention its other massive success: Red Dead Redemption 2.

“Rockstar Games’ Red Dead Redemption 2 achieved its highest level of annual unit sales since its launch year, with over 85 million units sold to date,” said Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. To put this number into perspective, Red Dead Redemption 2 is now the third best-selling game of all time, in the entire medium. The open-world western has outdone games that are widely regarded to be mainstream phenomena, like Wii Sports and The Sims.

During the call, several executives stated that Take-Two made more money than it expected to in 2025. What drove that success? “Better than expected performance” from series like Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption, according to Take-Two CFO Lainie Goldstein.

No Red Dead Redemption 2 updates

As far as Rockstar is concerned, GTA’s strong numbers have a lot to do with its recent update, A Safe House in the Hills, which brings back protagonist Michael De Santa. Makes sense. Red Dead Online, the multiplayer portion of Red Dead Redemption 2, did get an update in 2025 that added a handful of new missions as well as zombies and robots. Compared to the frequent hefty updates GTA Online receives, though, Red Dead Redemption 2 doesn’t get nearly the same attention from Rockstar.

Rockstar had already announced that it was winding down updates for its horse riding simulator in 2022, so the update took fans by surprise. The open-world game had spent years languishing without anything at all, so fans were more than ready to suck the marrow out of the bone. But for all intents and purposes, Red Dead Redemption 2 barely has a pulse as a live service game.

Why is Red Dead Redemption 2 selling so well?

While praising the growth of consumer spending on its games, Zelnick said that GTA Online and Red Dead Redemption 2 alike are games that “have proven to be vastly more resilient than anyone expected, and I think it’s a reflection of the quality of the work that Rockstar has done.”

Later on, when Zelnick was discussing the publisher’s long-term strategy for its games, he made a curious distinction. GTA Online, he says, is a “live service business.” Red Dead Online, and, by extension, Red Dead Redemption 2, are described as “legacy live services.”

Rockstar Games

There’s an argument to be made that single-player games shouldn’t be expected to keep pumping out content. Heck, now that Destiny 2 is ending, the industry at large is reevaluating its assumptions about what multiplayer games like Red Dead Online need in order to be successful. Red Dead Redemption 2 is still trucking, because — and this might surprise you — it’s a damn good time. So good, that Rockstar doesn’t even have to market it much anymore. Despite disappointment from fans who wanted updates like the ones in Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar’s handling of its sequel was a prescient one. Much like perennial classic games like Skyrim, Red Dead Redemption 2 can just quietly and confidently sell more copies in a year than other titles do in a lifetime. The game speaks for itself.

Still, I can’t be the only one who was shocked to learn just how well Red Dead Redemption 2 is doing. Red Dead Redemption 2 deserves some more roses, y’all.