Red Dead Redemption 2 Will Have “Incredible Emotional Depth,” Says Take-Two CEO

While we likely have a long wait ahead of us until Rockstar decides to release the first gameplay teaser for Red Dead Redemption 2, that hasn’t stopped Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick from letting slip a few new morsels of information for the highly-anticipated sequel.

Discussing the initial reception to the game’s reveal last month, Zelnick said during an MKM Partners event today (via GameSpot) that he’s “not shocked” by the positive fan reaction, adding that overall “anticipation is enormous” for the follow-up to the 2010 original.

Despite the Old West genre being one that has proved to be not particularly popular in recent years, Zelnick says that the success of the original Red Dead Redemption proved that “very occasionally westerns capture the imagination of the public,” as long as the time is right.

As it turns out, Zelnick believes that such a time has come around once again, and that gamers are ready for a “big, sprawling, optimistic view of America” once more.

The conventional wisdom was of course that a western wouldn’t work. We took a different point of view, which is that very occasionally westerns capture the imagination of the public. When we launched Red Dead, it did. And those times were right for that. And I think the times are right for a big, sprawling, optimistic view of America again–and that’s not meant to be cute.

But what about actual gameplay information? Well, Zelnick is predictably obscure when discussing such things, but the executive does let slip that Red Dead Redemption 2 will offer “incredible emotional depth,” adding that “you can expect there to be great story elements and great gameplay elements” weaved in throughout.

Let’s just hope that the ending to this one isn’t as heart-wrenching as the first, eh?

Red Dead Redemption 2 is due to release for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in fall 2017. The existence of a PC version has yet to be confirmed, but we’ll let you know if that changes.