As Red Dead Redemption 2's Release Nears, Watch The Launch Trailer

As promised, Rockstar recently released a new trailer for Red Dead Redemption 2, its eagerly-anticipated open world western. Release date is just about here--the game debuts tomorrow, October 26, for PS4 4 and Xbox One. Prior to this, the studio is offering everyone another tease of what they can expect. The launch trailer shows Dutch and Arthur talking about one more big score, before life can improve for their gang. Soon there's scenes of explosions, gunfire, and internal strife, set against talk of loyalty. It's a fairly short, but very sweet trailer. Check it out above and then read our Red Dead Redemption 2 review.

If that trailer has you sold on getting the game, you can now pre-load RDR2. Those that pre-order the game from the PlayStation or Microsoft Store are abler to start downloading it now. Getting it downloaded early means you'll be ready to play as soon as it unlocks on October 26 (barring a day-one patch).

Keep in mind that you'll require 90 GB of hard drive space, so it's worth clearing out those older games that you're not playing anymore. Red Dead Redemption 2 looks set to be Rockstar's biggest game yet. In a recent interview, co-founder Dan Houser said the final game has 300,000 animations and 500,000 lines of dialogue. Houser also said some members of the development team worked 100-hour weeks several times in 2018 to finish the game. Given the well-documented destructive impact crunch can have on people, this attracted criticism.

Houser later clarified that he was referring to specific members of senior writing team and not the entire Rockstar development team. "After working on the game for seven years, the senior writing team, which consists of four people, Mike Unsworth, Rupert Humphries, Lazlow and myself, had, as we always do, three weeks of intense work when we wrapped everything up," he explained. "Three weeks, not years. We have all worked together for at least 12 years now, and feel we need this to get everything finished. After so many years of getting things organized and ready on this project, we needed this to check and finalize everything." Houser also noted that other members of development team were not expected to work similarly long hours.

Employees of Rockstar have also started sharing their positive experiences of working at the studio. Many have said that, although they have occasionally worked long hours, this was by choice and not close to the 100 hour figure.

Red Dead Redemption 2 casts players as Arthur Morgan, a key member of the Van der Linde gang, as they fight for survival in an America that is steadily wiping out outlaws of his ilk. The game has a sprawling world and numerous in-depth features including weapon customization and an improved Dead Eye system, among others. Check out our latest Red Dead Redemption 2 impressions for more.

GameSpot has launched a weekly video series dedicated to Red Dead Redemption 2 called Quickdraw. The first episode, which you can watch here, focuses on the elements of other Rockstar titles that manifest in Red Dead Redemption 2. It analyzes how games like Bully, Grand Theft Auto V, and Max Payne contribute to the sequel's overall gameplay experience.