GTA 6 vs Red Dead Redemption 2: the side-by-side numbers

GTA 6 launches November 19, 2026 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, 2,946 days after Rockstar Games released Red Dead Redemption 2 on PS4 and Xbox One on October 26, 2018. The two share a studio and a path to market: each was delayed twice before landing on its final date.

	Red Dead Redemption 2	GTA 6
Release	October 26, 2018	November 19, 2026
Reveal to release	738 days, two delays	1,081 days, two delays
Launch consoles	PS4, Xbox One	PS5, Xbox Series X|S
PC version	November 5, 2019	none announced as of October 2, 2026
Standard Edition	$59.99	$79.99
Ultimate Edition	$99.99	$99.99
Collector’s box, game sold separately	$99.99	$399.99
Console frame rate	30fps	30fps during development, per Rob Nelson
Animations	about 300,000	600,000+
Map	about 75 km², a player measurement	three times Red Dead 2, per Rob Nelson
Story	60 hours, per Dan Houser in 2018	80 hours for Rob Nelson’s playthrough

The 2018 prices come from GameRevolution (June 4, 2018), the 2026 prices from Take-Two (June 24, 2026) and the Rockstar Store (checked October 1, 2026).

Price: $20 more, except at the top

In 2018, $79.99 bought the Red Dead Redemption 2 Special Edition. In 2026 the same money buys the GTA 6 Standard Edition. The Ultimate Edition has not moved in eight years: $99.99 on both sides.

The collector’s box went up fourfold. Rockstar sold the Red Dead Redemption 2 Collector’s Box for $99.99 with the note “Red Dead Redemption 2 sold separately.” The GTA 6 box, The Goodtime State, is $399.99, and its store page reads “Grand Theft Auto VI game sold separately.”

Not every number carries the same weight

Animations are the only gap Rockstar has put a figure on itself: more than 600,000 for GTA 6 against about 300,000 for Red Dead Redemption 2, numbers the studio gave The New York Times on August 27, 2026.

The map is different. Rob Nelson, co-studio head at Rockstar North, told YouTuber TGG the world is “three times the size of Red Dead 2’s map.” Rockstar has never published a square-mile figure for either game.

Story length needs the same care. Red Dead Redemption 2’s 60 hours came from Dan Houser before launch, in October 2018; HowLongToBeat now puts the main story at about 50 hours. GTA 6’s 80 hours describe one Rob Nelson playthrough in February 2026, optional goals included, as reported by The New York Times.

On console, the frame rate holds. Digital Foundry notes Red Dead Redemption 2 shipped at 30 frames per second, and VGC pointed out on August 28, 2026 that it never got an official 60fps patch on current consoles. For GTA 6, Nelson spoke of 30fps “during this development period,” according to an account by Brazilian creator Davy Jones.

Red Dead Redemption 2 took between 1,600 and roughly 2,000 people, per Wikipedia, and Take-Two’s August 2026 investor presentation counts more than 87 million copies sold. The comparison with GTA 5 has its own table.