Why is Red Dead Redemption 2 Not on Steam?

At over 175 million total units sold, Rockstar Games‘ Red Dead Redemption 2 stands tall as one of the best-selling video games of all time. With the epic Western open-world title finally making its way to PC in November 2019, many fans wondered why it launched exclusively on the Epic Games Store and Rockstar Launcher rather than PC gaming‘s largest platform, Steam. Over three years later, RDR2 still remains unavailable on Steam due to a confluence of market timing, financial incentives, and Rockstar‘s promotion priorities.

Upfront Exclusivity Deal with Epic Games

Eager to compete with Steam‘s dominance of the PC digital distribution market, the Epic Games Store inked an exclusivity deal to be the sole provider of RDR2 for one month upon its November 5, 2019 PC launch. This gave Epic a key advantage in driving user acquisition and increased mind share relative to its smaller market share at the time.

According to market analysts, Epic likely paid a handsome sum in the range of $10-20 million to secure temporary exclusivity rights over its chief rival Steam. For Rockstar, this quick injection of funds plus Epic‘s lower 12% revenue share compared to Steam‘s 30% baseline rate made for an easy decision to launch exclusively on Epic‘s fledgling platform.

Prioritizing the Rockstar Games Launcher Platform

However, exclusivity only lasted one month. On December 5th, 2019, RDR2 opened up for direct purchase through Rockstar‘s own PC launcher. This surprising addition of Rockstar‘s platform to the mix indicated the company‘s interest in owning the customer experience, sales data, and player relationship rather than relying solely on third-party storefronts.

Driving strong usage of the Rockstar Games Launcher also increases the game publisher‘s leverage in negotiating with other distributors in the future. By November 2022, industry observers estimated the Rockstar Games Launcher accounted for 35-40% of lifetime PC sales for RDR2, aided by promotions and discounts not available on other platforms. With Epic‘s exclusivity expired, Rockstar now had the freedom to focus engagement efforts on its owned platform.

The Cost/Benefit Analysis of Being on Steam

With healthy sales from both the Epic Games Store and Rockstar Games Launcher in the long run, why does RDR2 still remain unavailable for purchase or play on Steam? Let‘s break down the pros and cons from Rockstar‘s financial perspective:

Potential Benefits

• Broader audience reach – More players would discover RDR2 from Steam‘s vast user base
• Higher sales volume – Estimated incremental sales boost of 15-25%
• Brand visibility – Being in the Steam store provides marketing benefits

Downsides

• Significant revenue cut – Steam‘s 30% platform fee reduces potential earnings
• Marketing costs – Promoting the Steam launch requires advertising spend
• Less direct customer ownership – Rockstar has less access to player data through Steam

For an established blockbuster like Red Dead Redemption 2, the main financial upside of joining Steam is the slight incremental revenue bump from increased sales volume. However, this would come at the cost of having nearly 1/3 of revenues extracted by Steam‘s fees as well as additional player acquisition and marketing expenses.

Given RDR2‘s runaway success, Rockstar likely deemed the juice wouldn‘t be worth the squeeze. By sticking to just Epic and its owned Rockstar Launcher channel, they could minimize costs and platform fees while still reaching the majority of their target mainstream gaming audience. Steam convergence simply wasn‘t essential from a financial perspective.

Evaluating the Possibility of RDR2 Coming to Steam

Could Red Dead Redemption 2 still make its way onto Steam one day? Industry analysts and Steam data trackers don‘t rule out the possibility. One trigger could be the eventual wind down of active development updates for Red Dead Online. As Rockstar allocates resources towards the rumored Grand Theft Auto 6 development, they may be more open to revenue-boosting distribution partnerships for RDR2 after it exits the spotlight.

For now, Rockstar seems content maximizing profits during Red Dead Redemption 2‘s commercial peak across just Epic and the Rockstar Games Launcher. Yet down the road, even a belated Steam launch could generate renewed interest and added revenues. Especially with rumors of a next-gen console upgrade still swirling, there are enough strategic motivations for Rockstar to keep Steam in their back pocket as a future distribution option pending the right timing and commercial circumstances.