Red Dead Redemption 2 India Release Date May Be Delayed

Red Dead Redemption 2's India release date may be delayed. The hotly anticipated open-world adventure from Rockstar Games is out on October 26 though most of India may get it a couple of days later. Several customers tipped off Gadgets 360 that the stores they pre-ordered it from had told them that they were given "special instructions from Rockstar" to ship the game on release date only. Red Dead Redemption 2's India distributor is E-xpress and its warehouse is based in Mumbai. What this means is, unless you reside in Mumbai, you may not get the game on time. As the game is out on a Friday, those outside of Mumbai may get it on Saturday or Monday at the earliest.

This development follows gaming blog Kotaku's report on independent game retailers in the US not getting Red Dead Redemption 2 on release day. Incidentally, bigger chains like Gamestop and Best Buy will be selling the game a day prior. In India however, it seems that only specific game stores have been informed of this delay. Neither Rockstar Games nor its distributor E-xpress have replied to Gadgets 360's request for comment on a possible delay for the game. The stores speaking to Gadgets 360 however, have confirmed this is the case.

Nonetheless, this is not new. Rockstar has in the past, put in place strict release date restrictions on India. GTA V on PS3 and Xbox 360 for example, was shipped late due to "publisher regulations" at the time. And before this, GTA IV was delayed due to a shortage as India was not a high priority market back then. Judging by the restrictions in place now, it seems little has changed.

There are exceptions however. Other games such as WWE 2K19 for example, released early in India. Instead of being out on October 9, it was on store shelves from October 5 thanks to a street date break in the Middle East. Only if Red Dead Redemption 2 leaks early and Rockstar allows distributors to release the game because of it, is there a slight chance that this may not come to pass. And before you think buying it digitally is the answer, be prepared for a 90GB download, which essentially breaks the FUP of most Indian gamers.

2018 has been a disappointing year for Indian gamers in terms of availability. God of War on PS4 for example, had its special editions delayed due to logistical reasons while another PS4 exclusive, Spider-Man saw Sony inexplicably cancel its steelbook variant despite allowing retailers to take pre-orders and while the Spider-Man PS4 Collector's Edition is still expected the company remains noncommittal as to when it would actually arrive.

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