4) Red Dead Redemption 2
To the surprise of absolutely no one, Rockstar did what it does best (what, you thought immersive, sprawling sandbox worlds were its crowning achievement?) earlier this year by pushing the release date of its latest and greatest creation back, not by a couple of weeks, but months, to an ambiguous period sometime in 2018. Delays, as we all know, are an inescapable facet of our beloved industry that can arise for a multitude of reasons, but if there’s any developer out there that can afford the setback, it’s Rockstar, and it knows it.
A mild sense of arrogance? Doubtful, but even if it were the case that Rockstar believes it can do no wrong, nobody could blame it. This is, after all, the same studio responsible for the crime caper Grand Theft Auto series, the latest entry of which has likely raked in more money than any other consumer product on the planet, judging by its absurdly successful chart performance. Likewise, when competing publishers up their financial forecasts based on the delay of a Rockstar title, it quickly becomes crystal clear just how much pull each of its products has.
That’s not to say that Red Dead Redemption 2‘s delay will guarantee its success, far from it, but one can only assume as such, based on past precedent. Without any gameplay, it’s hard to truly tell what direction Rockstar is taking for the long-awaited sequel, but if it’s as much of a step up as Grand Theft Auto V was over its predecessor, then by golly, our return to the Wild West may actually turn out to be the greatest thing since sliced bread, and that’s saying something.