Red Dead Online will be receiving no further updates, and when all is said and done, it leaves Red Dead fans wondering what could have been.
The long story of Red Dead Online is all but over, and fans have been left with a history of bad luck and disappointments. The game launched with much enthusiasm, but player enthusiasm had dimmed significantly when the end of support came. While Red Dead Online had plenty of potential, it missed the mark in some crucial ways.
Released in May of 2019, Red Dead Online was intended to be a companion to the highly successful Red Dead Redemption 2, much like the relationship between Grand Theft Auto 5 and GTA Online. With RDR2‘s excellent gameplay combined with a more customizable character, the game’s future appeared bright. However, despite the game having several opportunities, it never made the full leap to be what fans had been hoping for. Red Dead Online‘s official end of support felt less like a shock and more of a logical end point in the eyes of many.
It is easy for one to realize how much could have been done with Red Dead Online. However, for any number of reasons, it never became the true wild west adventure that a lot of fans had been hoping for. Instead it was a sandbox that, while functional, felt directionless. RDO had so much potential, but most of it sadly went unfilled.
Red Dead Redemption 2, the game that Red Dead Online was based on, is nothing short of phenomenal. It stands as possibly the best game that Rockstar Games has produced both in terms of gameplay and writing. Main protagonist Arthur Morgan is better than GTA 5‘s protagonists by virtue of being an instantly memorable character with wit and heart backed by impressive cowboy skills. With an excellent combat system, a variety of side activities, and a full roster of memorable characters, the RDR universe seemed like a perfect place for an online sandbox.
One could argue that being based on such an excellent game can be a weakness just as much as it was a strength. With Red Dead Redemption 2 receiving glittering reviews and praise from all sides, it was one of the biggest games of 2018. While it provided a great setting for Red Dead Online, the original game also cast a long shadow that left RDO with a lot to live up to. The great expectations that came with being tied to such a successful IP made RDO‘s failure to consistently rise even more frustrating to fans. After all, since Red Dead Redemption 2 broke sales records, the online game would be expected to succeed as well.
Unfortunately, Red Dead Online was left in the shadow of Red Dead Redemption 2. It lacked the strong story and characters that elevated RDR2, and the gameplay wasn’t enough without substantial, meaningful content. Every time RDO disappointed fans, the brand made the hit heavier because fans knew what the Red Dead name was capable of.
When Red Dead Online is discussed, it’s hard not to bring up its sister game Grand Theft Auto Online. Both are online multiplayer games that are based on a highly successful Rockstar property. However, the two games ended up having incredibly different destinies. While one thrived, the other could only look on at the more fortunate game’s success. The #SaveRedDeadOnline protests on a GTA Online news post show the dissatisfaction of RDO players.
Grand Theft Auto Online has been Rockstar’s primary focus for the past ten years. The game has seen several updates that have expanded the scope of the game significantly. The release version of GTA Online seems so much smaller than its current state that it is almost unrecognizable. In comparison, Red Dead Online‘s updates were fewer and farther between, and they rarely provided anything of the grandiose scale that offerings such as GTA Online‘s The Contract and various heist updates provided. Many RDO players felt like their game was being ignored, and the way that GTA Online was thriving did not help matters.
Grand Theft Auto Online has been around for nine years, but it is still going strong while RDO is ending support after four years. The comparison between RDO and GTA Online‘s treatment is best embodied by how GTA Online‘s The Criminal Enterprises update came out near the time of RDO‘s end of life announcement. Red Dead Online was never able to compete with GTA Online.
There was a lot that fans wanted out of Red Dead Online. They wanted to run their own gangs and carve their own stories out of the wild west. While the game did offer players the chance to ride alongside their friends and go on missions, it still left a lot of players wanting more. Despite the updates, the world of RDO never felt complete.
The updates added content, but usually only in small doses, and nothing to the level of what GTA Online updates provided. Likewise, Red Dead Online‘s lackluster events rarely felt like something worth celebrating. It became common for bonus rewards from missions to be the main thing that players would expect from in-game events rather than new missions or collectibles. The state of the game became such that player protests were common, demanding more meaningful content, and new questlines. After all, RDR2 was incredible, and GTA Online was thriving, so the feeling was that Red Dead Online should have been as good as those two.
Despite protests, the response to Red Dead Online would continue until the end. Players would be underwhelmed by updates, hoping for something more substantial. The roles and missions that were added during updates only momentarily satiated the fanbase because other problems had yet to be addressed. As fans wonder what went wrong with Red Dead Online, it is clear that in the end, RDO‘s inability to please the fans would become its final legacy.
Red Dead Online was a more controversial game than it was ever meant to be. Its cycle of disappointing its players provided a public relations problem for Rockstar, and the fans kept hoping for big updates that never seemed to happen. With Red Dead Online‘s support ending for good, those same fans can only wonder what could have been.
Devin Friend is a graduate of McNeese State University with a bachelor’s degree in creative writing. A lifelong love of cartoons and video games has given him endless enthusiasm as well as a critical eye for both mediums. Any game or show that catches his interest will be heavily researched and binged for hours on end. He has a great passion for creating characters and storytelling, and spends a lot of free time writing stories of his own.
