Rockstar has announced that it will be scaling back support for Red Dead Online, much to the disappointment of its fans.
“We have been steadily moving more development resources towards the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series,” Rockstar confirmed, promising that it will still support Red Dead Online though players shouldn’t expect any major content updates.
The devs aren’t completely pulling the plug on RDO, however – game-wide improvements, events, and new Telegram missions are all currently in pipeline.
Here’s what Rockstar said in its latest post:
Firstly, with both new and experienced players engaging in the wealth of activities already added to this massively rich world including Specialist Roles, story-based cooperative missions, competitive Showdown Modes, and much more, we will continue to showcase these unique additions through Red Dead Online’s monthly events as we move forward, so players of all levels can enjoy everything the vast frontier has to offer.
Alongside seasonal special events and experience improvements — plus other changes to enhance and maintain a healthy Red Dead Online environment — we plan to build upon existing modes and add new Telegram Missions this year, rather than delivering major themed content updates like in previous years, and we will continue to highlight and share the creative efforts of our Red Dead community at every opportunity via the Newswire and beyond.
The last major Red Dead Online update, titled Blood Money, launched in July 2021 to a mixed reception. The free expansion introduced Crimes and Opportunities as new activities within the game world, finally letting you posse up and rob trains among other unsavoury pass times. Since then, however, players have been waiting for Rockstar to give them something more substantive.
Following this latest updates, many in the community have voiced their outrage, though it’s clear to anyone that Red Dead Online hasn’t been as successful as Grand Theft Auto Online. After close to four years of post-launch support, it’s no surprise that Rockstar has peeled away resources it can then funnel towards GTA6.
Meanwhile, GTA Online has seen regular content drops and events, including last year’s The Contract. This included a meaty chunk of story missions, not to mention brand new music from one Dr. Dre.
Red Dead Online is included with every purchase of Red Dead Redemption 2. More recently, the multiplayer mode was made available as a standalone title on PS4, Xbox One, and PC.
Source: Rockstar Newswire
