Rockstar has been completely focused on Grand Theft Auto 6 recently, for obvious reasons, so it’s no surprise that fans of Red Dead Redemption or its ill-fated online spin-off, Red Dead Online, feel a little left out. The developer dedicates itself to each of its single-player titles, while also working extremely hard on GTA Online. As a result, it can feel like a very long time between updates for its numerous franchises, especially Red Dead Redemption. After all, RDR2 was released nearly seven years ago in 2018, meaning fans have been waiting a long time.
Fortunately, after years of languishing and after Rockstar abandoned RDO, there has finally been an update for the Red Dead Redemption series, but absolutely not the one fans expected. Crucially, this update has many, myself included, feeling both utterly confused and excited, as it not only resurrects something we all believed Rockstar had killed a long time ago, but it also gives hope for the series’ future, and what Rockstar may have planned for the Red Dead Redemption series going forward.
Red Dead Online Is Back
Rockstar Just Released A Massive Update
Red Dead Online has, amazingly, been brought back to life after three years without major updates. To the surprise of absolutely everyone, Rockstar has not only released a new update for the once-doomed online experience but also dropped a trailer on YouTube to market it, something it hasn’t done since 2021 with the frankly dreadful and failed Blood Money expansion. This update, titled “Strange Tales of the West“, feels like one of the first major drops in quite a while, as Rockstar rarely releases new content for the game.
It adds four new Telegram Missions to the game, which, while not exactly the most exciting addition, is both better than nothing and potentially an indication of more to come. These missions, as implied by the update’s name, focus on supernatural occurrences, namely zombies, cultists, and, naturally, robots. Each of the four missions revolves around dealing with one or more of these new enemy types, with the update’s most enjoyable Telegram Mission, “Strange Tales of The Plague,” reminding us all of how amazing Undead Nightmares was. The four new missions are:
- “Strange Tales of The Plague”
- “Strange Tales of Modern Science”
- “Strange Tales of The Bayou”
- “Strange Tales of The Wilderness”
None of these missions are particularly groundbreaking – they’re more or less fetch quests – but they do give people like me hope that Rockstar has suddenly remembered Red Dead Online actually exists, as it has been stuck in limbo for quite some time. It didn’t get that way by accident, though, as Rockstar itself was responsible for killing RDO along with any hope it would get future major updates or a sequel in the future.
RDO Was Dead
It Seemed Like Support Had Ended
Red Dead Online was truly dead for about three years. It was so dead that fans petitioned to save it, with many believing that if they shouted loud enough, Rockstar might listen. Apparently, it worked, or at least, it seems that way. Back in 2022, Rockstar released a blog post that more or less confirmed it was abandoning Red Dead Online as a result of needing to shift resources to the production of GTA 6. It was a heartbreaking move, but one that surprised no one, as RDO support had never been amazing from the start. The announcement read:
Over the past few years, we have been steadily moving more development resources towards the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series — understanding more than ever the need to exceed players’ expectations and for this next entry to be the best it can possibly be — and as a result, we are in the process of making some changes to how we support Red Dead Online.
To be clear, Rockstar never explicitly said it was giving up on Red Dead Online, instead choosing its words more carefully and opting to announce it was “plan[ning] to build upon existing modes and add new Telegram Missions this year, rather than delivering major themed content updates.” However, it didn’t really do this either, as it only released new Telegram Missions in 2022, and then not again until 2025, much to everyone’s surprise. This was despite the fact that, in 2022 especially, but even now, RDO’s player count was strong.
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While it never reached the same heights as GTA Online, the game has a very dedicated fanbase who revel in the opportunity to mosey around the Wild West getting up to no good in the gorgeous sandbox Rockstar created. The lack of support only further compounded the missed opportunities of RDO, making fans feel like the whole project was doomed to fail from the start. Rockstar’s approach has always been a bit haphazard, but perhaps this new update finally brings a little bit of hope for the game’s often precarious future.
What Do Red Dead Online’s Updates Mean For Its Future?
It Looks Like More Content Is On The Way
The new Red Dead Online update has one important detail in its title that has fans excited about the future of the game. It is volume 1 of, currently, an undisclosed number of volumes, meaning that Rockstar has plans for at least one more “Strange Tales of the West” update. That’s very intriguing, not just because it has us all speculating on what other supernatural creatures we could be facing in the Wild West – werewolves? vampires? swamp creatures? – but also whether Rockstar has any other updates planned beyond these horror-focused ones.
However, before we all get too excited, it is worth noting that Rockstar said in that 2022 blog post that it would still be adding new Telegram Missions, and it has been ever since it abandoned the major update formula back in 2022. New Telegram Missions are always welcome, but they’re not quite the major content that fans are hoping for. Of course, the publicity surrounding the “Strange Tales of the West” update in particular is what has gotten many excited and makes newcomers wonder if RDO is still worth playing in 2025.
While I’m mixed on the update, not necessarily on its content, but on what it means for the series’ future, I am hopeful that Rockstar will at least keep the RDO train going a little longer before killing it completely.
The trailer could be Rockstar’s attempt at drumming up interest for Red Dead Redemption again in anticipation of an RDR2 next-gen update and Switch 2 port. It could be breathing life back into Red Dead Online, if even temporarily, to get newcomers to play it whenever its next-gen version releases. That’s all speculative, of course, but considering Rockstar has never announced new Telegram Missions in the past, it does feel like there’s something more to this update than perhaps meets the eye.
Regardless, it’s always great to see more Red Dead Online content, even if it is just more Telegram Missions, albeit unique ones. While I’m mixed on the update, not necessarily on its content, but on what it means for the series’ future, I am hopeful that Rockstar will at least keep the RDO train going a little longer before killing it completely. Perhaps once GTA 6 has finally been wrapped up, it’ll return to Red Dead Online, but I’m somewhat doubtful. For now, though, there are a lot of zombies, robots, and more that need killing in Red Dead Online.
Source: Rockstar Games/YouTube, Rockstar Games
Red Dead Online
- Released
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May 14, 2019
- ESRB
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M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Strong Language, Suggestive Themes, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Engine
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Rockstar Advanced Game Engine
- Multiplayer
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Online Co-Op, Online Multiplayer
