Despite the success of Red Dead Redemption 2, Red Dead Online hasn’t quite lived up to its potential since bolting from the bounds of beta in mid-2019.
That’s not to say it isn’t a good game. With the right mix of players on any populated server, Rockstar’s multiplayer cowboy crime sim is still up there with the most entertaining open-world games in 2025. But despite its scope to match the ambition of GTA Online once upon a time, RDO instead persists in the lurching shadow of its modern day cousin.
In fact, so neglected has Red Dead Online been over the last few years, that even the most ardent fans—those who put their name to the several-thousand-strong #savereddeadonline petition of 2023—would have given up on the game at the beginning of this year.
Now, however, with RDO riding high on a new lease of life—after receiving a handful of new missions for the first time in years—and with the GTA 6 release day coming into focus, could our return to Vice City help break new ground in the Old West?
“Back in July, Rockstar unexpectedly dropped a brand-new Red Dead Online content trailer for the first in over four years which gave me a real glimmer of hope they might return to the game in a bigger way once GTA VI is out and their resources free up,” says prominent Rockstar commentator Ben, aka Videotechuk.
“Rockstar also seems to be building on the Strange Tales of the West content in the coming months,” he adds, “and with current rumours of new current-gen versions in the works, Rockstar could have the footprint to deliver more Red Dead Online updates without being held back by the Xbox One and PS4.”
Even a cursory glance into RDO’s corner of GTA Forums highlights a flurry of activity, reignited interest and general buzz around Read Dead Online in the wake of July’s update, something that’s been entirely missing in recent years. There, a whole host of newcomers, lapsed wranglers and hardcore players (including one chap who’s logged close to 10,000 hours) are all happily chipping in with fables from the frontier, and it’s a lovely place to peruse.
It’s a safe bet that the core of Rockstar’s dev team will remain focused on GTA 6 long after the crime sim lands on May 26 of next year, with many of those folk, you’d assume, transitioning onto work on whatever shape GTA Online 2.0 takes in the wake of the base game’s arrival.
Once all of the above falls into place, though, would it not make sense to return some focus on RDO, given the renewed interest and opposition to putting it out to pasture entirely? Ben certainly thinks so.
“Also, it’s kind of a no-brainer to come back as Red Dead 2 continues to sell better than most modern day titles on this market, which is just nuts.”
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