Amid all the talk of the ambitious single-player campaign for Red Dead Redemption 2, Rockstar Games hasn’t provided too much information about its online component… until now. The developer has announced that Red Dead Online is launching in November 2018 for PS4 and Xbox One.
However, it will be available initially as a public beta. As per Rockstar’s statement on the same, “As with most online experiences of this size and scale, there will inevitably be some turbulence at launch. We look forward to working with our amazing and dedicated community to share ideas, help us fix teething problems and work with us to develop Red Dead Online into something really fun and innovative.”
If you own Red Dead Redemption 2 for either platform, then Red Dead Online will be free for you. Much like Grand Theft Auto Online, players can explore a large online world with friends, or solo. Rockstar promises the mode will “blend narrative” with competitive and cooperative gameplay. There will also be “constant updates and adjustments” to improve the experience further.
This approach to launching Red Dead Online and making it separate from the single-player campaign’s release is understandable. Considering the numerous issues that Grand Theft Auto Online faced at launch, it only makes sense that Rockstar wants to release a beta first and iron out all of the issues beforehand. The real question is whether this beta experience will be any more stable than GTA Online was when it launched.
Red Dead Redemption 2 will release on October 26th for Xbox One and PS4.