Red Dead Redemption 2 just had its most players ever, five years later

Red Dead Redemption 2 has done the unthinkable, garnering the most new players it’s ever had five years after release.

It’s not entirely unexpected, since Rockstar Games fans are likely still giddy from the announcement we’ll finally get to see GTA VI next month through the first official trailer.

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GTA VI is also the first game Rockstar has made for new-gen platforms only, as it’ll be skipping the Xbox One and PS4 in favour of the more powerful Xbox Series X/S and PS5. It’ll also launch on PC but likely a few months after consoles, similar to what happened with GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2.

Speaking of Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar’s Western has broken its own record on Steam by receiving its highest-ever player count since it launched on the digital store.

Earlier the game reached an all-time peak of 77,335 players, which doesn’t include those playing it via the Epic Games store, Rockstar’s own launcher, or the console versions of the game.

While the spike in popularity could be down to the game being discounted for Black Friday/Cyber Monday, it’s entirely likely all the excitement around GTA VI has encouraged new and old players to revisit Rockstar’s most recent open-world title.

Red Dead Redemption 2 definitely set the bar high enough, boasting a level of detail in its open world that fans hope will be replicated and expanded upon for GTA VI, as well as a narrative considered to be one of the greatest fictional stories ever told.

Despite being available for five years, players are still starting new playthroughs as well as discovering things about the game they’d never noticed before, like Easter eggs, references or other hidden secrets.

Now while it’s likely the player count will drop dramatically when GTA VI releases, it’s almost guaranteed that a third Red Dead Redemption game will be next on Rockstar’s list of projects, and fans are happy to wait as many years as it takes to see it happen.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is available on Xbox, PlayStation and PC platforms.