'Red Dead Redemption 2' release date, news: new title coming in fall 2017

A promotional image for "Red Dead Redemption 2"Rockstar Games

After months of speculation, Rockstar Games has officially unveiled "Red Dead Redemption 2" with an official trailer. The footage showcases the open-world and the new graphical style used in the game, but it does not reveal who the main character is or whether the narrative is directly connected to the first game. The trailer did, however, reveal that the game will roll out in 2017.

According to the official Playstation Blog, "Red Dead Redemption 2" will be taking one-step further in the open-world genre, following up on the success of their previous games such as "Red Dead Redemption," "Bully," "Midnight Club," and the "Grand Theft Auto" series. Unfortunately, the exact mechanics and features have not yet been divulged.

The trailer reveals that the game is not just going to be a single-player affair as it will also have a robust multiplayer mode. This will come as no surprise given since "Grand Theft Auto V" did not receive any single-player DLC expansions, but its online mode continues to receive updates and DLC expansions to this date.

It is speculated that this means the game will have a massive single-player campaign, but its multiplayer mode will become the main focus post-launch, with new DLC expansions and further updates added long after the main game has been released.

DLC content is also going to be PS4-exclusive for some time, despite the main game launching for both the PS4 and Xbox One. It is undetermined how long the exclusivity will last. Other franchises, such as the "Call of Duty," have a one-month exclusivity contract with Sony, and their DLC content will only launch on Xbox One and PC 30 days after they were made available on PS4. The "Red Dead Redemption 2" DLCs may follow a similar release format.

"Red Dead Redemption 2" will launch in 2017. The first "Red Dead Redemption" can be played on the Xbox One via the Backwards Compatibility feature, and it will be released for PS4 soon through the Playstation Now program.