Red Dead Onlinealways felt like it was destined to be a success. It was coming off the back of the absolutely phenomenalRed Dead Redemption 2, a game that was both a critical and commercial success, as well as Rockstar’s years of experience in the online market with one of the most profitable and enjoyable multiplayer games,GTA Online. There was really no reason whyRed Dead Onlineshould fail, especially as Rockstar had proven itself to be a master of both single-player story-driven content and multiplayer sandbox fun.
Unfortunately,Red Dead Onlinedieda fairly swift death, lasting just three years before Rockstar pulled support and left what little remained of it for fans to try and enjoy. That’s not to say thatRed Dead Onlinewas all bad. In fact, there are a lot of great aspects of the ill-fated online experience that fans are still enjoying to this day. However, there are seemingly no intentions for Rockstar to return toRDOany time soon, leaving fans in the dark. Fortunately,much like a 19th-century cowboy,Red Dead Online’sfans aren’t going down quietly.
They’ve Started A Petition To Save The Game
Over 2,000 people have signed aRed Dead Onlinepetitionvia the websiteChange.orgin an attempt to save the game from being completely abandoned and ultimately switched off.The petition, created by user Missrissax Tiktok, aims to get Rockstar to return to regularly updating the gameafter it decided to stop updates all the way back in 2022. It calls for the “resumption of weekly updates” among a plethora of other features that would, naturally, improve the game and see it return to its former glory before its player base dipped significantly. The petition’s description reads:
Red Dead Online has been an essential entertainment source for millions […] Unfortunately, the game has seen no significant updates nor new content in the last three years, leaving its dedicated fanbase feeling overlooked and dissatisfied. The community yearns for the resumption of weekly updates, enhancing player engagement with fresh content, increasing the diversity and complexity of in-game challenges, and strengthening the game’s overall user experience.
TheRed Dead Onlinecommunity is certainly passionate, with dozens of comments from fans in the petition stating just how much they love the game. EvenRDR2’svoice actors expressed sympathywhen the game was shut down, with many wondering what its legacy would leave behind and the lessons Rockstar would learn from it.It is inspiring to see a dedicated community rally around its beloved game, but it’s worth noting that websites like Change.org aren’t particularly effective, especially when the low number of signatures that theRDOpetition has amassed.
This isn’t thefirst time fans tried to saveRDO. Previously, fans have tried to save the game via impassioned Twitter campaigns that went somewhat viral but proved to be ineffective in changing Rockstar’s mind.
For Rockstar to seriously consider revivingRed Dead Online, it would need hundreds of thousands, if not millions of players to voice their desire and willingness to pay more money. The expense of developing and maintaining a massively multiplayer game likeRed Dead Onlineis gargantuan, and not particularly worth Rockstar’s time if its player base is dwindling. However,while the Change.org petition may not be effective, that doesn’t mean thatRDOisn’t worth saving, especially as its foundations could lead to a better experience.
Why RDO Is Still Worth Saving
It Still Has A Dedicated Player Base
Red Dead Onlineis a great game, despite all of its many flaws. While there are plenty ofmissed opportunities inRDO, for the most part, its sandbox open world and Wild West fantasy hold up. Rockstar managed to produce a number of updates across its three years post-release, several of which added thoroughly enjoyable roles for fans to unlock and experience. These roles were the backbone of the online experience, and while Rockstar often mishandled them, the potential that they offered was amazing.
Additionally,Red Dead Online’splayer countis still fairly high.Beating the likes of more recent online titles likeSuicide Squad: Kill The Justice League,RDO stillenjoys a fairly healthy player base on PC, withSteam Chartsshowing the average daily peak player count at well over 1,000 players. This is obviously not including the numbers on PlayStation, Xbox, or other PC platforms, which aren’t made available to the public. It’s fair to assume that there are likely several thousand people still actively playingRed Dead Online.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Is The Perfect Western For One Reason That No Movie Can Achieve
Red Dead Redemption 2 has easily become one of the greatest Westerns ever made thanks to one advantage that only it could ever have.
While that number may pale in comparison toGTA Online’sridiculous player counts, it is nevertheless impressive. Maintaining an active community among a sea of other online titles is incredibly tough and often the reason why other similar multiplayer games have failed and been shut down.Rockstar could increase its player base even further were it to implement a few more changes and updates, many of which the community has been calling out for. It’s also a tough sell to newer players when they’re conscious that the game they’re buying has no more updates planned for it.
What RDO Needs To Improve (& Make Fans Happy)
Better Monetization & Improved Job Roles
As outlined in the petition,Red Dead Onlineneeds major and weekly updates to improve the overall experience and entice new fans to check it out.One of the game’s biggest faults was that its updates, while exciting in theory, rarely delivered. For example, one of the final updates forRDO,Blood Money, was a disappointment. It added heists and robbery missions, something fans had been demanding since the start, but these missions weren’t particularly enjoyable and were extremely limited, making them a rather underwhelming distraction.
Similarly, theroles added throughoutRDO’slifetimeare fun but feel unbalanced and are too hard to acquire. They usually required the game’s premium currency to be unlocked, but Rockstar heavily nerfed the ability to earn it in-game, resulting in fans having to fork out real money to enjoy any of the game’s content. That was made harder to stomach when Rockstar added a price tag to the base experience, something thatGTA Onlinedoesn’t have.All of this culminates in an experience that is too unfriendly to new players and punishes long-term fans, which resulted in the game’s demise.
10 Unsolved Mysteries Red Dead Redemption 2 Never Answered
There are various mysteries players can encounter throughout Red Dead Redemption 2 which never receive complete answers within the game.
However, as much asRDOneeds regular updates, improvements to the game’s economy, a relaxing of the reliance on premium currency, vast additions to missions and general content, and so much more, it’s unlikely to get them. Beyond Rockstar having already confirmed there won’t be any more updates, thedevelopment ofGTA 6, alongside the huge undertaking of maintaining and updatingGTA Online, means that the developer is likely stretched thin. Attempting to keepRed Dead Onlinealive on top of all of that is too much, so fans likely shouldn’t count on it returning any time soon, if ever.
