Red Dead Redemption 2: Players left waiting for hours to actually play the game because of huge download

The game can take many hours to actually arrive

Red Dead Redemption 2 fans are finding themselves waiting hours to actually get hold of the game.

The title – one of the most anticipated games of the year, and perhaps ever – is finally out, on both PlayStation 4 and Xbox. But that doesn't mean that people can actually play it.

Many are finding themselves waiting for hours as their console downloads the full game. It is 90GB on the PlayStation, and even bigger on the Xbox, meaning that it can take upwards of six or seven hours to actually arrive.

Rockstar had offered players the ability to pre-load the game, so that it would download in advance and then get unlocked and playable once the release date arrived. But many people hadn't bought it in advance, meaning that the downloads kicked off on Friday, when the release date rolled around.

That has left people only able to watch as the slow progress bar makes its way upwards, and to take their pain to Twitter in the meantime.

There doesn't seem to be any obvious way of speeding up the download. But traditional ways of improving your internet connection, such as plugging into ethernet and making sure no other big transfers are happening at the same time, should help it arrive more quickly.

Even if you've already downloaded the game – or if you're playing it off the disc – you'll still have a small download. Rockstar has confirmed that there is a 3GB day-one update that is available now.

Because the game is offline, it will be possible to skip ahead and just play without installing that patch. But it brings a whole host of bug fixes, so it is certainly worth waiting if you can bring yourself to.