Rockstar Finally Kills Red Dead Online - Stops Major Updates
It was pistols at dawn between Rockstar Games and the Red Dead Online fan base, and ultimately, there was only going to be one victor. Now, the bullet-riddled carcass of the Red Dead spin-off has been left outside the saloon to gather flies and be picked clean by the buzzards.
Despite only coming out in 2019, Red Dead Online has limped into town like a lame horse that needs putting down. Grand Theft Auto V has raced its way to become the most profitable entertainment product of all time, and it's undoubtedly Grand Theft Auto Online that has helped it get there. Sadly, the Old West ain't big enough for two of them.
Has Rockstar Killed Red Dead Online?
There have been questions about what's next for Red Dead Online, and we recently covered how players are holding an in-game funeral for the anniversary of its abandonment. Basically, July 13 will mark a whole year since the Blood Money update gave us the last real content drop. Since then, we've seen the #SaveRedDeadOnline campaign gather steam.
Rockstar has given us an update on where things are up to, with a new blog post promising focus will now pivot toward the upcoming goliath that is GTA 6. For those worrying this is bad news for Red Dead Online, some lines buried deep within the release confirm this is the end of the road. While GTA Online is known for getting two major content drops each year, it looks like Blood Money was the last of its kind for RDO.
With a simple line reading "We are in the process of making some changes to how we support Red Dead Online," Rockstar took a revolver to its own creation in brutal style. When Rockstar started carving up its studios for various projects a few years ago, we were promised it wouldn't affect any of its games. So, it's a sad state of affairs that we're effectively burying RDO before it had a chance to reach its full potential.
Fans React To Red Dead Online's Demise?
Obviously, a lot of hate was aimed toward GTA 6 and its potential. "They [Rockstar] abandoning RDO and the remastered of GTA 4 and RDR1 for GTA6, GTA 6 better be the greatest thing humanity ever witnessed I’m expecting them to cure world hunger and bring world peace with GTA." Another raged, "It makes me question why the original developers left the company. But hey as least there development GTA 6. They said f**k Red Dead 2 what a bunch of crap."
There were plenty of chuckles at the idea of RDO suddenly ramping down. Someone else joked, "'RDO support has ramped down...' mf was there even a ramp up ever? been a whole year since any content update at all." Others pointed out that GTA 6 could be the fall guy for RDO's demise - citing how GTO got a tonne of updates during Red Dead Redemption 2's development cycle. Giving a final F in the chat, one fan concluded, "This is a huge error, RDR2 and RDO are the most beautiful games they have ever done." As Rockstar promises to update existing modes instead of adding new ones, it's going to look pretty desolate out there in RDO pretty soon.