Red Dead Redemption 2 is shaping up to be one of the year’s biggest releases on Xbox One and PS4.
And having had to wait so long for official news from Rockstar Games, big updates have started to be shared just weeks before launch day.
One of the big news stories this week included claims that the download size of Red Dead Redemption 2 was not going to be as big as first thought.
Reports of RDR2 taking up over 100GB of hard drive space were sparked by a PS4 Pro bundle description, which seemed to confirm that the game was going to be a meaty download.
However, since then, additional information has been shared that suggested Red Dead Redemption 2 won’t take up so much space after all.
It went as far as to say that it would be half the size, something that would prove great news for fans.
However, since then, it has been revealed that the information is false, with the original leaker going back on the claim.
So it still looks like fans will have to wipe other content from their consoles to make room for Red Dead Redemption 2 later this month.
Rockstar Games continues to share more information about their game, which makes it sound even more ambitious than the studio’s previous release, GTA 5.
It’s already been revealed that Red Dead Redemption 2 will include more than 50 weapons to wield and a ton of customisation options.
This will also extend to being able to make your guns work better as a stealth weapon, something that could prove invaluable in Red Dead Online.
“When faced with just one or two enemies, you might want to go for a Springfield Rifle which has a slower fire rate but delivers much higher damage,” Rockstar adds.
“For range, a sniper rifle of some kind is obviously a good choice, but scopes can also be fitted to all other types of rifle enabling you to switch between regular view and scope view at any time.”
There are also rumours that the explorable area will encompass the entire original Red Dead Redemption map.
It’s also being reported that over 1000 actors were used to voice the game’s NPCs.
That would suggest that nearly every single NPC in the game will have their own personality, something that would certainly make RDR2 standout this generation.
Fans may have also been shocked to learn that a Red Dead Redemption 2 preorders can earn them in-game currency in GTA Online.
It has been confirmed that those players who own both games can add $1M in in-game money to their account later this month.
“An extra cash bonus of GTA$1,000,00 also awaits GTA Online players who have pre-ordered any digital edition of Red Dead Redemption 2 from the PlayStation or Microsoft Store and log in by October 15th, with rewards set to be deposited by October 22,” a message from Rockstar Games confirms.
That’s a pretty big bonus for fans who play both games, with plenty of new in-game items that it can be spent on.
Unfortunately, there are no rewards being offered to players before the launch of Red Dead Online, which won’t be available to play until November 2018.
This is another feature that may help to push the total size of RDR2 even higher, although not until after its launch in October.
It’s unlikely that this news will put players off joining Red Dead Online, which looks set to be a massive growth area for Rockstar Games.
Analysts predict that RDR2 can even replicate some of the success of GTA 5, which continues to have high sales driven by the multiplayer mode included.
“We continue to favour Red Dead for upside this holiday, while our longer-term thesis is unchanged: Take-Two has the biggest runway to benefit from digital shift, [microtransactions] shift, margin expansion and multiple expansion from streaming content deals,” analyst Justin Post writes.
“We are above guidance and have modelled for 18 [million] units, but given [“Grand Theft Auto 5″] success, eight years of development and consumers’ desire for original content, we see upside potential.”
That upside potential will rely on RDR2’s online experience mimicking the success of GTA Online.
And with Red Dead Redemption 2 shaping up to be one of the most ambitious games of this generation, there’s certainly scope for something special being offered next month.