Abandoned by Rockstar - The Tragedy of Red Dead Online

[00:08] Rockstar Games had only explored relatively  rudimentary modes of multiplayer in its games   before the advent of Red Dead Redemption  in 2010. The American West-set adventure,  

[00:21] studio s first step into the wild west of  expansive online gameplay. It made sense, then,   that Grand Theft Auto 5 s multiplayer suite, GTA  Online, allowed the team to unfurl its wings and  

[00:36] do so in a way that generated multimillion-dollar  earnings via in-game purchasing. But GTA Online   didn t achieve incredible success overnight.  Several years and various post-launch updates   would land before the experience hit its stride  with 2015 s Heists update. The hope was that  

[00:54] Rockstar would afford Red Dead Redemption 2  s online component the same room to grow.   Red Dead Online entered beta weeks after the  prequel s story campaign arrived in stores. It   almost instantly became mired in controversy,  too, mostly because of balancing issues with  

[01:09] the in-game economy. Rockstar addressed  the community s concerns with haste,   leading many to believe the move marked  the start of a cadence that would always   see the developer quickly respond to  player feedback. This rapport between  

[01:21] the production team and its Red Dead Online  user base lasted for only so long, however.   A frustrated community felt the need to beg for  meaningful content updates within two years of the   multiplayer mode s release. And after about three  years, pleas for Rockstar to Save Red Dead Online  

[01:38] had turned into a trending hashtag that even  caught the attention of executives at Red Dead   publisher Take-Two Interactive. Unfortunately,  these noble efforts proved for naught, since,   once again, the future of the western-themed  franchise found itself playing second fiddle to  

[01:54] the creation of new Grand Theft Auto content. This is the tragedy of Red Dead Online.  

[03:22] Given Red Dead Redemption 2 s expansive  single-player campaign, Rockstar Games   thought it prudent to spread out the launch  of its online component. According to Rockstar   North Design Director, Imran Sarwar, the team  wanted to ensure players had plenty of time to  

[03:36] see Arthur Morgan s story through to completion  before diving into a multiplayer adventure. Thus,   the Red Dead Online beta enjoyed a staggered  release across four days starting on November 27,   2018, one month after Red Dead 2 s late October  arrival. The gradual rollout also served to  

[03:54] mitigate potential technical issues. However,  the studio seemingly failed to anticipate the   scrutiny it would come under when early adopters  closely analyzed in-game purchasing options.   GTA Online thrusted newcomers onto the path  of becoming millionaires right off the bat,  

[04:09] providing the ultimate fantasy fulfillment in an  open-world metropolis. In turn, the rewards for   completing missions totaled thousands or even  millions of in-game dollars. Red Dead Online   allowed for no such wish fulfillment because of  its Wild West setting. Store items were priced  

[04:25] at no more than a few bucks, reflecting late  19th Century pricing. Players received meager   payouts for finishing activities as a result.  This Cash-based currency proved troublesome   from the outset, yet the premium Gold Bars  currency intended for special cosmetics  

[04:40] and faster item unlocks garnered most of the  community s ire during the early beta phase.   Notably, Gold Bars demanded an arduous grind.  One Redditor calculated the average player would   need to devote approximately eight hours of their  time to obtain a single Gold Bar. The problem was  

[04:57] nestled in the fact that several items, better  horse breeds included, could only be purchased   with Gold Bars; fully modifying a rifle cost up to  30 Gold, for example. Red Dead Online s unbalanced   economy didn t constitute a pay-to-win issue,  per se, but users expressed concerns over it  

[05:13] potentially facilitating a situation whereby those  incentivized to engage in microtransactions for   faster unlocks could gain an unfair advantage. As such, despite generally positive first   impressions, the beta represented the first  instance of a community-driven grassroots campaign  

[05:29] to Save RDR2 Online. The campaign primarily  centered on publicizing the proper Rockstar-run   channels through which users could submit  feedback. Such a coordinated effort worked to   some extent, given the studio s speedy development  of a patch to rebalance the economy system.  

[05:45] The microtransactions debacle aside, many had  high hopes for the future of Red Dead Online   ahead of its official launch in May 2019. And much  of that optimism stemmed from developer promises,  

[05:57] assurances consisting of constant updates and  adjustments to grow and evolve the experience.   The Co-Studio Head of Rockstar North, Rob  Nelson, reiterated this notion months after   the beta ended, telling readers of Official Xbox  Magazine the future is full of surprises while  

[06:13] insisting that remaining mindful of community  feedback would serve as the primary goal.   Statements of this nature weren t made in a  vacuum. Rockstar understood it would take time   for Red Dead Online to find a comfortable rhythm,  especially since lead developers recognized that  

[06:28] GTA Online only began to reach the extent of its  capabilities when the Heists update touched down   in 2015. However, Nelson and the San Diego team  s Senior Producer, Josh Needleman, both expected  

[06:40] Red Dead to achieve high levels of success at  a quicker pace. In pursuit of such ends, the   company hoped to stagger GTA and Red Dead content  updates, following a nebulous release schedule   that would encourage players to switch back and  forth between the two. Needleman admitted in an  

[06:55] IGN interview that production plans would likely  stymie this even-handed approach. But Red Dead   faithful could not have predicted just how much  favor Grand Theft Auto would gain long-term.  

[07:11] Red Dead Online's beta phase concluded in May  2019, bringing about the multiplayer suite s   complete release and a massive update. The  patch included an assortment of new Land of  

[07:23] Opportunities story missions, whose content  proved contingent on which side of the law   users occupied. Outlaws joined up with  notorious criminals to commit misdeeds;   meanwhile, those who followed the Gunslinger  route lent their guns to more worthy causes,  

[07:37] such as chasing down a gang in Valentine. Free Roam missions, extra Posse Versus contests,   and the Overrun Showdown Mode filled  out the substantially sizable update,   too. Rockstar also introduced Offensive and  Defensive play styles, respectively tailor-made  

[07:54] experiences targeting users who enjoyed PvP  or wished to avoid battling fellow players.   Myriad gameplay improvements and a  Hostility System to mitigate griefing   additionally served as integral parts of  Red Dead Online s first major update.  

[08:09] On the back of this release, the crew at  Rockstar set to work on further embracing   Red Dead 2 s role-playing mechanics. Rob Nelson  claimed this approach was, in part, inspired   by three key elements that beta users openly  voiced an interest in a more personal connection  

[08:24] to their player-created character, improved  balancing, and ponchos. In September 2019, then,   the studio unleashed three new Frontier Pursuits,  Specialist Roles in the form of Bounty Hunters,  

[08:38] Collectors, and Traders. The Bounty Hunter path  revolved around tracking wanted criminals, the   Collector role emphasized exploration and treasure  hunting, and the Traders option boasted an   entrepreneurial bent for business-minded folks. Red Dead Online s earliest Outlaw Pass,  

[08:55] the equivalent of a Battle Pass, entered the  mix to boot, packing in a free version with   fewer rewards and a premium offering worth 35 Gold  Bars. At the time, it all seemed a solid start,   with Rockstar touting the introduction of Roles  as a fundamental change to the title s long-term  

[09:12] future. Better still, Legendary Bounties followed  not too long thereafter, turning some of Red   Dead s most formidable outlaws into targets for  players to hunt down and capture dead or alive.  

[09:24] Subsequent months by and large proved a mixed  bag, filled with hope, anticipation, and few   high marks as far as the community was concerned.  Some of the most exciting discourse spawned from   supposed in-game zombie sightings, which sparked  speculation about a possible sequel to the  

[09:39] original game s Undead Nightmare expansion. When  nothing came of these findings, Red Dead players   concluded the zombies were dead bodies glitched  into standing upright at inopportune times.  

[09:51] In addition to launching Red Dead 2 on PC and  Google Stadia, Rockstar closed out the year on a   relatively high note. The Moonshiners role joined  the multiplayer mode as a Frontier Pursuit in   December 2019, inviting Traders to invest in the  bootlegging business. Outlaw Pass number two also  

[10:09] launched alongside the Moonshiners content, as did  new clothes and an increased number of inventory   slots for the wardrobe. In hindsight, many would  later reflect on this point as the end of a rather  

[10:21] fleeting era in Red Dead Online history. By January 2020, the PC version of Red Dead   s multiplayer had become inundated with hackers  harassing players or instigating the banning of  

[10:36] innocent users. This issue didn t impact the  community at-large but further accentuated   Rockstar s failure to solve the cheating problem  that had plagued GTA Online for years. And   if GTA hadn t received a proper fix, Red Dead  players on PC were more or less out of luck.  

[10:53] On top of hacking and cheating concerns, the Red  Dead Online user base had also resigned itself   to accepting a drought of meaningful content  updates in early 2020. The frustration bubbled  

[11:05] to a boil in mid-July, seven months after the  Moonshiners content dropped. Some players let   off steam in-game by participating in a fashion  competition organized by the game s Discord   and Reddit communities. In June, a similar  competition gained quite a bit of popularity  

[11:21] for its Saint Denis theme. The fan-run event in  July, however, boasted a traveling circus theme,   a way for players to protest the lack  of regular updates. As PCGamesN noted,   one Discord mod reasoned players were all clowns  for believing they d receive fresh content,  

[11:38] so it was fitting to dress the part, too. To the delight of many, Rockstar did deliver   a substantial update later in July, unleashing  the Naturalist as an all-new Frontier Pursuit.  

[11:50] This particular role focused on tracking  Legendary Animals, as Naturalist players could   work alongside Harriet Davenport to research and  conserve the lives of rare animals. An alternate   Naturalist path let users lend their services to  big game hunter Gus Macmillan, who paid top-dollar  

[12:06] for rare animal pelts and could fashion unique  clothing items from the retrieved skins. On   top of seven Legendary Animals, the update s  other supplemental add-ons included new skills   for Naturalists, Free Roam Events, another  Outlaw Pass, and asynchronous matchmaking.  

[12:23] The Naturalist Role provided fun gameplay  opportunities not afforded to the classes that   came before. Its associated weapons and cosmetics  received their fair share of praise, too. But   the positivity injected into the community by the  update in question wouldn t last for very long.  

[12:47] Players regarded Rockstar s major release  for Red Dead Online as nothing but a morsel,   given the contents of the Bounty Hunter  update that launched in December 2020.   As opposed to phasing in a new playable class,  the late 2020 update expanded upon the Bounty  

[13:02] Hunter Role by adding 10 prestigious bounty  levels to the Role s existing progression   model. These extra levels were combined with new  cosmetics and higher-paying bounties to form the   Prestigious Bounty Hunter License. Priced at 15  Gold Bars, the Bounty Hunter unlocks cost over  

[13:17] half the price of the Moonshiner and Naturalist  Roles, both of which featured more content.   Users understandably took umbrage with the  state of things, feelings exacerbated by   the fourth premium Outlaw Pass only offering 30  Gold Bars compared to the typical 40. Notably,  

[13:34] additional 10 Gold Bars and 400 in-game dollars.  The community accused Rockstar of employing this   tactic to target people s fear of missing out.  That the Outlaw Pass primarily contained filler  

[13:49] items and no weapon skins or outfit unlocks for  Level 1 progression intensified the dismay.   In short, Red Dead Online s answer to the battle  pass had become underwhelming." And changes to   gold payouts for the Daily Challenges made  playing the game for free far less efficient  

[14:05] than in previous updates. Suffice it to  say, some Red Dead regulars viewed the   Bounty Hunter License as the last straw. Hope lingered in some respect, though,   courtesy of a standalone Red Dead Online release  for consoles and PC. The standalone hit digital  

[14:21] stores on the same day as the Bounty Hunter  expansion for $5, a 75 percent discount that   remained in place through February 2021. From the  outside looking in, a dedicated Red Dead Online  

[14:33] platform separate from the story mode suggested  the multiplayer suite still had life left in it.   Yet as subsequent months wore on, doubt once more  pervaded the game s slowly dwindling community.  

[14:47] Red Dead Online spent the first half of 2021  drifting through yet another content drought   barring weekly challenges and small patches.  As it had the previous year, the month of  

[14:59] July bore fruit with the advent of Blood Money,  an update centered on the Saint Denis locale.   Built around multi-stage robbery missions, Blood  Money tasked players with accepting jobs from   crime boss Guido Martelli who needed gunslingers  to acquire valuable currency known as Capitale.  

[15:15] The currency originally came into existence as  a unique exchange system for criminal business   dealings. Thus, attempts to successfully retrieve  Capitale presented players with lucrative criminal   opportunities, which manifested as a new mission  type Crimes. Objectives attached to Crimes ranged  

[15:33] from elaborate robberies and stagecoach holdups to  kidnappings and debt collection. The player s job   didn t end there either, as accumulating Capitale  led to Opportunities, schemes devised by Martelli  

[15:45] to bring down a Senator hellbent on disrupting  criminal operations in Saint Denis. Rockstar   deployed the first of three Opportunities  on July 13, with the second and third   Opportunities arriving less than a month later. Despite Opportunities acting as the equivalent of  

[16:01] GTA Online s Heists, opinions about the content  from the community were divisive at best. One   side of the aisle considered the missions a waste  of time; the other enjoyed the storytelling and   argued that, at the very least, Opportunities  provided a great jumping-on point for newcomers.  

[16:18] Above all else, veteran players wanted in-game  luxuries to spend their growing riches on. PC   modders solved the problem to a degree with  the creation of purchasable property mods,   but users across all platforms longed for more,  much more than Rockstar was willing to produce.  

[16:36] In December 2021, GTA Online received a massive  update featuring new music from Dr. Dre,  

[16:48] a story starring the music legend himself,  and the return of GTA 5 protagonist Franklin   Clinton. While GTA players debated whether such an  expansion should ve launched as single-player DLC,  

[17:00] Red Dead s online component received nothing  in the way of a significant content drop.   Rockstar s favoritism towards GTA admittedly  made sense, given that a NetBet study from   August 2021 estimated GTA Online s earnings  totaled a whopping $2.5 million per day.  

[17:18] Nevertheless, players expected Rockstar to  set aside resources for Red Dead support,   too. When it became evident the studio had  no such plan in mind, the community started   a Save Red Dead Online campaign in January  2022 with a hashtag that trended on Twitter.  

[17:33] The outcry more or less went unanswered until  Strauss Zelnick, CEO of Take-Two Interactive,   told IGN in May that though he was aware of  player frustrations, the future of content  

[17:45] updates depended on Rockstar s decision-making. Unfortunately, the final decision the final blow   came in July, when the studio revealed it had  begun shifting resources to production for the  

[17:57] next Grand Theft Auto game. Red Dead Online  support would be relegated to seasonal events,   expanding upon existing modes, and the addition  of new Telegram Missions later in 2022, rather  

[18:09] than delivering major themed content updates  The news circulated mere days after Red Dead   Online community members announced an in-game  funeral to celebrate the one-year anniversary   of the title s abandonment. It seemed active  users had long spied the writing on the wall.  

[18:24] Therein lies the tragedy of Red Dead Online:  Players wanted a better game, campaigned for it,   but had to accept far too early in its life cycle  that middling developer support made even the  

[18:36] simplest of requests an impossibility. Considering  the departure of the franchise s lead writer,   Dan Houser, in March 2020 and reports of  a canceled remaster for the original game,   fans can only hope a similar tragedy  won t befall Red Dead proper.