Take-Two's Red Dead Redemption, developed by Rockstar, has exceeded everyone's expectations, selling 5 million units to retailers since launching on May 18. Some doubted that a Western-themed game could really take off, but gamers have embraced the genre it seems. Take-Two CEO Ben Feder has been ecstatic about the title's success.
He told VentureBeat, "Your competitive set is always important. One thing we saw with Red Dead Redemption was that there wasn’t much room in the market for anything but Red Dead. It works in a good way and a bad way. We sucked the oxygen out of the room with Red Dead. We haven’t seen NPD data yet, but I suspect it will show Red Dead had pretty good market share."
Analyst Michael Pachter had previously noted that the game really benefited from some robust marketing, and it would seem that Feder agrees. "We had a sense the title would do well. We were not expecting this kind of audience. The guys at Rockstar have an unmatched track record in creating compelling content. It was also as robust a marketing plan as I have ever seen in my career. We took a few risks with it. We had a particular point of view on it," Feder commented, adding that marketing really focused on the lead character. "There was a lot of focus on the iconic image of John Marston (the hero of the game). That image is designed to be seared into your mind."
We should find out later this week what the NPD numbers show for Red Dead in May.
