Since it debuted and was released from public beta stages several months later in May 2019, fans ofRed Dead Onlinehave certainly not been quiet about the lack of updates the game has received. While a couple of major DLC installations have propped up over the years, such as theRed Dead OnlineFrontier Pursuits role expansion, the community believe that the game has failed to live up to its true potential.Now, Rockstar Games' latest announcement has only left fans even more distraught.
For the uninitiated,Red Dead Onlinebegan as the multiplayer-focused mode forRed Dead Redemption 2before being released as a standalone game. Developed by Rockstar San Diego, it set out to be theWestern equivalent ofGrand Theft Auto Online, another sandbox shooter from the company that is still seeing massive success despite releasing in 2013.Although that game has thrived on countless expansions and overhauls like the popular Los Santos Tuners, most players today feel that Rockstar has leftRed Dead Onlineto die in its digital desert wastelands.
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Now,Red Dead Online’s latest update has only gone on to result in more adverse publicity and anger from fans of the game. Pitched on Twitter by Rockstar Games as a call to action to kick off the new year with in-game bonuses, it’s safe to say the warm feelings were only going one way, as many players immediately criticized the shallowness and lack of depth included within the update. Things only escalated when a post was created onRed Dead Online’smost popular subreddit that lampoons the update even further.
Currently sitting on over 400 upvotes, quite a number of users took to the reply section of the post toexpress their disappointment withRed Dead Online. Just from looking at the top replies, it’s clear that the common criticizing consensus is that the update is “low effort content” and is doing nothing to help draw players back to the game’s “dead” servers. On top of this, many are quick to point out thatRed Dead Onlineis now “doing monthly updates instead of weekly updates,” which has left many to speculate that this only reinforced the point that Rockstar has abandoned the game.
With that said, it does not surpriseRed Dead Onlineplayers that expansive updates have slowed to a crawl, with Blood Money being the first major update in a long time. This is because a report revealed thatRockstar shifted development resources fromRed Dead Online, mostly to assist in various other projects.
These seemingly actionless measures in quality assurance have resulted in Rockstar Games' overall public reputation taking a beating lately. After all, the studio was recently in hot water overthe controversialGrand Theft Autoremastered trilogy. In short, it will take a lot for the company to win back the trust of millions of consumers.
Red Dead Onlineis available now on PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
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