The voice actor behind Red Dead Redemption’s John Marston speaks out about Red Dead Online’s cancellation and what it could mean for the future.
Rob Wiethoff, the talented voice actor who brought John Marston to life in 2010’s Red Dead Redemption, recently spoke about the end of Red Dead Online. Rockstar launched Red Dead Online in 2019 as an online multiplayer component to the critically-acclaimed Red Dead Redemption 2 – not unlike how Grand Theft Auto Online built Grand Theft Auto 5’s fictional setting of Los Santos into a chaotic virtual landscape. In Red Dead Online, players could roam a rich open-world sandbox in a sprawling storyline that allowed them to engage in shootouts, hunt wildlife, and collect bounties among many other Western activities.
However, while GTA Online continued to see plenty of support from Rockstar over the years, its Red Dead counterpart fell to the wayside with minimal updates. The decline of Red Dead Online would culminate in Rockstar officially ending all support in July, almost a full year after the game’s last major update. This would prompt players who spoke out about the publisher’s perceived negligence to host in-game funerals for Red Dead Online to mourn its untimely demise. Now, some of the talent behind the Red Dead franchise’s more successful single-player options are weighing in on the end of Red Dead Online.
As reported by Comicbook.com, Red Dead Redemption voice actor Rob Wiethoff recently commented on Red Dead Online’s end in an interview with the Dan Allen Gaming YouTube channel. Wiethoff, who is known for portraying the noble-yet-troubled former Van der Linde gang member John Marston in both voice and motion capture, expressed sympathy with fans who are disappointed with the game’s cancellation but feels that Rockstar will now be able to create something new and exciting with the extra resources freed by Red Dead Online’s end. “You’re in a situation where you’re upset because something you love right now, you feel is being taken away from you or not being continued the way you want it to be,” Wiethoff stated during the interview. “But if it wasn’t so great in the first place, you wouldn’t love it the way that you do. You gotta be patient! Let them do what they do and you’re going to be blown away again. That’s the way it goes!”
Rob Wiethoff isn’t the only Red Dead Redemption actor to speak out about Red Dead Online’s cancellation, as Red Dead Redemption 2’s Arthur Morgan actor Roger Clark recently posted a heartfelt message telling the game’s passionate community to have hope for the future in the face of Red Dead Online’s demise. Officially, Rockstar has cited the development of the long-awaited sequel to Grand Theft Auto 5 as one of the main factors in its decision to stop releasing updates for Red Dead Online. While Rockstar is yet to reveal any concrete information surrounding GTA 6, leaks and rumors suggest it may be one of the publisher’s biggest games yet.
Even though many Red Dead Online players are understandably disappointed that the game they spent countless hours on and built close friendships within is no longer being supported, fans like Red Dead Redemption’s own Rob Wiethoff are holding onto hope that its death will lead to something better from Rockstar Games down the road. Rockstar’s next project – the long-in-development GTA 6 – has yet to receive an official announcement, but the hype surrounding it is already massive.
Source: Comicbook.com, Dan Allen Gaming/YouTube
J. Brodie Shirey is just a simple man trying to make his way in the universe, but aren’t we all? He currently lives in York, Pennsylvania. He is a big comic book, video game, and science fiction fan, and likes writing articles for ScreenRant or scripts for some of his crazy TV show ideas.
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