For the uninitiated, Red Dead Online began as the multiplayer-focused mode for Red Dead Redemption 2 before being released as a standalone game. Developed by Rockstar San Diego, it set out to be the Western equivalent of Grand Theft Auto Online, another sandbox shooter from the company that is still seeing massive success despite releasing in 2013. Although that game has thrived on countless expansions and overhauls like the popular Los Santos Tuners, most players today feel that Rockstar has left Red Dead Online to die in its digital desert wastelands.
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Now, Red Dead Online’s latest update has only gone on to result in more adverse publicity and anger from fans of the game. Pitched on Twitter by Rockstar Games as a call to action to kick off the new year with in-game bonuses, it’s safe to say the warm feelings were only going one way, as many players immediately criticized the shallowness and lack of depth included within the update. Things only escalated when a post was created on Red Dead Online’s most popular subreddit that lampoons the update even further.
Currently sitting on over 400 upvotes, quite a number of users took to the reply section of the post to express their disappointment with Red Dead Online. Just from looking at the top replies, it’s clear that the common criticizing consensus is that the update is “low effort content” and is doing nothing to help draw players back to the game’s “dead” servers. On top of this, many are quick to point out that Red Dead Online is now “doing monthly updates instead of weekly updates,” which has left many to speculate that this only reinforced the point that Rockstar has abandoned the game.
With that said, it does not surprise Red Dead Online players that expansive updates have slowed to a crawl, with Blood Money being the first major update in a long time. This is because a report revealed that Rockstar shifted development resources from Red Dead Online, mostly to assist in various other projects.
These seemingly actionless measures in quality assurance have resulted in Rockstar Games’ overall public reputation taking a beating lately. After all, the studio was recently in hot water over the controversial Grand Theft Auto remastered trilogy. In short, it will take a lot for the company to win back the trust of millions of consumers.
Red Dead Online is available now on PC, PlayStation 4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
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Source: Reddit
