Rockstar Games has confirmed what many already suspected: There will be no major content updates for Red Dead Online moving forward. Instead, the company is shifting resources to focus on the next installment in the Grand Theft Auto series. It also confirmed more updates and quality of life improvements are coming for its wildly popular open-world crime simulator, GTA Online.
In a blog post released today on Rockstar’s official website, the publisher laid out its future plans for both GTA Online and Red Dead Online. And while Rockstar had a lot to say about the future of its online GTA game, it said very little about its online open-world western. What it did have to say wasn’t great, as the publisher basically announced the game is on life support and will no longer be a priority for the company.
While Rockstar thanked the RDO community and fans for sticking with the game over the last few years, it had some bad news for folks still enjoying RDO. According to Rockstar, it has been “steadily moving more development resources” toward the next entry in the GTA series, long rumored to be GTA 6. It says it wants to “exceed players’ expectations” with that next game, and resources once devoted to RDO have moved to GTA 6 instead.
This lines up with what Kotaku has heard from sources about the company dedicating more and more of its resources to the next GTA game, to the point of even canceling plans for future remasters in the process.
Rockstar will still continue to hold month-long events in Red Dead Online and does plan to add some new Telegram missions.
However, the publisher confirmed that it has no plans to release any bigger themed content updates for RDO moving forward, like the previous Blood Money or Moonshiners.
Alongside seasonal special events and experience improvements — plus other changes to enhance and maintain a healthy Red Dead Online environment — we plan to build upon existing modes and add new Telegram Missions this year, rather than delivering major themed content updates like in previous years, and we will continue to highlight and share the creative efforts of our Red Dead community at every opportunity via the Newswire and beyond.
It’s not the news Red Dead Online players have been hoping for, but it’s also not surprising either. At this point, many in the community have been calling the game dead, and some are even planning to hold a funeral later this month to mourn the game’s lack of updates and dearth of support.
With this news from Rockstar, the publisher has essentially put the game on life support, and while it will remain active and receive some tiny updates down the line, the reality is that Rockstar is now entirely focused on GTA Online and GTA 6 instead of digital cowboys and the horses they rode in on.
