Why GTA Remasters May Be Responsible For Red Dead Online’s Neglect

Red Dead Redemption 2’s multiplayer mode, Red Dead Online, has suffered from a dearth of updates in 2021, and GTA: The Trilogy – The Definitive Edition may be to blame. Red Dead Online started off with a rocky launch but bounced back in 2019 with the release of Frontier Pursuits, which introduced role-playing elements to the game, allowing players to play as bounty hunters, traders and collectors. These roles were further expanded upon in 2020, with Rockstar adding moonshiners and naturalists as possible career paths for RDO players. However, the last major update to the roles system (the introduction of ‘Infamous Bounties’ to the bounty hunter role) came at the end of 2020, with 2021 marking the quietest and most disappointing year yet for RDR2’s multiplayer.

Red Dead Online’s community has vented its frustration regarding the lack of content throughout the year, especially since Rockstar has continued to provide significant updates to GTA Online during this period. While GTA Online has seen new heists and Fast & Furious-themed updates in 2021, Red Dead Online players have had to make do with discounts for baked beans and Blood Money, which was a pale imitation of GTA‘s heists. This has contributed to the sense that Red Dead Online’s potential is being wasted, and that it won’t ever be able to compete with GTA Online due to that game having a much larger, more monetizable player base.

Rockstar Games’ next release will be a remaster of the three core entries from Grand Theft Auto’s 3D Universe, including GTA 3, GTA: Vice City, and GTA: San Andreas. Details are light on the remasters currently, but prior to Rockstar’s official announcement their existence was reported on by Kotaku, which stated that Red Dead Online developer Rockstar Dundee was leading the project. Kotaku’s report also cited a source familiar with GTA: The Trilogy, who claimed that a “major reason” reason behind Red Dead Online’s lack of updates this year was down to Rockstar Dundee switching focus to the remasters.

GTA Online Continues To Benefit While Red Dead Online Is Ignored

Whether or not it is true that Rockstar Dundee switched from supporting Red Dead Online to develop the upcoming GTA remasters, The Trilogy‘s existence does compound the sense of neglect that RDO players have largely been feeling the past year. Three years on from its launch, and players are still looking for a good reason to make money in Red Dead Online. While some GTA fans may bemoan the spiraling costs of keeping up with each of GTA Online’s updates, the game still has a steady flow of new content to purchase, which RDO does not. Red Dead Online has received little in the way of significant updates over the last year, let alone new cosmetics or weapons, providing fewer and fewer reasons for players to return.

It’s a massive shame, as Red Dead Online possesses bags of potential. The game has a slower, less frantic pace than GTA Online, and Rockstar itself previously spoke of its desire to flesh out the game’s role-playing elements to include lawmen and outlaw roles – and even a path where traders would be able to own their own properties – in a 2019 interview with VG247. None of these proposed expansions to Frontier Pursuits have materialized, and even though August’s Call to Arms update was what players needed, no further significant updates have been teased.

It can make for a frustrating experience for those particularly invested in Red Dead Online. The aforementioned teases of deep enhancements to Frontier Pursuits were exciting, but the lack of communication regarding potential updates or player feedback since RDO’s launch runs the risk of players potentially losing interest. Rockstar isn’t like other studios, and has taken a more elusive approach when it comes to revealing its own projects in the past. However, Games as a Service titles depend upon communication to survive. If it’s true that Rockstar Dundee moved off development of RDO to work on GTA: The Trilogy without an announcement, then it’s illustrative of not only Red Dead Online being ignored for its sibling franchise, but also that Rockstar should adopt greater transparency with players, and reassure them that the time they’ve invested into a given project will eventually pay off.

About The Author

Ewan Paterson
(75 Articles Published)

Ewan is a Gaming Features Editor for Screen Rant and may in fact have way too many interests. His love for comic books, video games and Dad Movies also instilled in him a love for writing, which he’s been doing since he was about 16. Originally from Liverpool, Ewan made the move to Newcastle in 2014 to study History at Northumbria University (which he loved), and has stayed there ever since. You may have heard/seen him on YouTube a bunch as well.

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