2017 was an incredible year for game releases and one of the most lucrative for various development studios and publishers from around the world. According to a VentureBeat news post on the NPD’s 10 best-selling games of 2017, blockbuster titles like Call of Duty: WWII, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Super Mario Odyssey and more all held their own and remained at the top of most wish lists throughout the holiday season.
With January nearly complete, many analysts are already starting to predict the odds on the top-selling video game of 2018. One of the most intriguing titles that will be an integral part of this discussion is Rockstar Games Red Dead Redemption 2. There are several factors to consider when coming to the conclusion as to whether or not this highly anticipated title is destined to be the top-selling video game of 2018.
For starters, Red Dead Redemption 2 will be launching directly after Grand Theft Auto V, Rockstar Games flagship action-adventure series which has made over 85 million in sales and is currently the all-time best selling video game in the US. The ongoing support with GTA Online has played a significant role in increasing player engagement and I fully expect GTA V to remain on monthly NPD lists all year long. Rockstar hasn’t yet confirmed if Red Dead Redemption 2 will launch day and date with an online multiplayer component, but if it does that certainly will impact the overall sales over the next several months.
Another factor worth considering bears the question of if Rockstar intends to make a PC version of Red Dead Redemption 2 this year or next? PC gamers never got to experience the previous game in this series on their platform and this pattern may continue with the sequel if the developers decide to keep the game only on consoles for now. Much like with GTA V, I fully expect Red Dead Redemption 2 to eventually come to PC and once that happens even more copies of the game will be sold over a longer period of time.
On the flip side of all this, it’s very likely that other titles could just as easily be in the same discussion for the top-selling video game of 2018. Call of Duty is a franchise that continues to sell well every year and this trend is certainly capable of continuing. Ultimately time will tell which game ends up taking home the crown but at the very least we definitely can expect to see Red Dead Redemption 2 somewhere on the list unless it’s delayed till 2019.
Red Dead Redemption 2 launches this Spring on PS4 and Xbox One. Do any of you think it has a chance to be the top-selling video game of 2018? Please feel free to let us know your thoughts on the topic and more in the comments section below.
