Almost exactly a month after Red Dead Redemption 2 launched, developer Rockstar has announced that the game’s online mode will start rolling out this week. The beta for Red Dead Online will actually be available tomorrow for some users, as Rockstar is staggering the launch, likely to avoid the server issues that plagued GTA Online when it debuted several years ago.
Those who purchased the “ultimate edition” of the game will have access to the Red Dead Online beta starting on Tuesday, November 27th, and on Wednesday, it will open up to anyone who played Red Dead Redemption 2 when it launched on October 26th. On Thursday, anyone who played the game between October 26th and 29th can access the beta, and it will finally open up to everyone on Friday, November 30th. The online spinoff is free for anyone who owns the base game on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
As for what you’ll actually be doing in Red Dead Online, there’s still a lot we don’t know. Here’s how Rockstar explains it:
With the gameplay of Red Dead Redemption 2 as its foundation, Red Dead Online transforms the vast and deeply detailed landscapes, cities, towns, and habitats of Red Dead Redemption 2 into a new, living online world ready to be shared by multiple players. Create and customize your character, tailor your abilities to suit your play style, and head out into a new frontier full of things to experience.
Explore this huge world solo or with friends. Form or join a posse to ride with up to seven players; gather around the fire at your camp; head out hunting or fishing; visit bustling towns; battle enemy gangs and attack their hideouts; hunt for treasure; take on missions and interact with familiar characters from across the five states; or fight against other outlaws in both spontaneous skirmishes and pitched set-piece battles; compete with other players or whole posses in open world challenges and much more.
If GTA Online is any indication, Red Dead Online is a game that will continue to change and expand over time. Despite launching back in 2013, Rockstar continues to update GTA Online with new features and options; the game’s biggest expansion, a sprawling multipart heist, debuted last December.
Comments
Crossplay? God it would be nice
By Ponk on 11.26.18 11:19am
i dont think rockstar cares about that.
By bostitch11 on 11.26.18 1:46pm
Why not? A bigger player base means more people to keep others online. Plus your friends who "picked the wrong console" can now play with each other, only adding to the ability to keep people engaged.
I think it is much more likely Rockstar just isn’t the online developer to figure out how to keep 10 million users a month on the same servers. Better to only have to manage them 5 million on the same servers. Better for Battlefield or COD to figure it out, and push the issue onto other developers first.
By PhaseDMA on 11.26.18 6:10pm
Looking forward to flying around on my rocket-powered horse and getting a phonecall from my associate asking me why we haven’t been holding up any stagecoaches lately.
By GodShapedHole on 11.26.18 11:26am
Hopefully there are a lot of bug fixes too.
By zedx79 on 11.26.18 1:13pm
hopefully they dont abandon single player like they did with GTAv
By bostitch11 on 11.26.18 1:46pm
Bugs? I’m almost to Act IV and so far the only issue I’ve had is 1) accidentally punching various horses, people, and things to gain an obnoxious wanted level or kicks to face and 2) one missing horse that just never reappeared after starting an "advertising" quest that involved a carriage ride. (And who knows, I may have accidentally killed it somehow.)
It’s been a remarkably bug and glitch-free experience for me.
By brian.eric.ford on 11.26.18 3:16pm
My first playthrough was bug free. My second playthrough broke about halfway through because no one would give missions out. I know there is a bug where like 4 characters will disappear from camp after chapter 2 – which breaks the game.
There are without question major bugs in the game. It is also very much possible to not run into anything noticable the entire game.
By PhaseDMA on 11.26.18 6:14pm
Big deviation from Rockstar in my opinion, who I don’t ever recall has had openly talked about or made available a pre-release version of a game
By SoN1NjA on 11.26.18 1:25pm