'Red Dead Redemption 2' Gets an Online Beta

Hours earlier Rockstar Games announced that Red Dead Redemption 2 will have an online mode, similar to GTA online, named Red Dead Online and will launch sometime in November of this year.

For anyone who played the first Red Dead or even GTA IV on last gen consoles (like me) this is big news. Just seeing the success of GTA online has people more than excited to traverse the Old West online with friends.

The pack is back!

According to an exclusive Q&A with the development team behind Red Dead Online, the online version of the game will utilize the elements of the original Red Dead Redemption's multiplayer. Taking the online aspects "much further, and combine that with everything we’ve learned in the years since then with our favorite elements from Grand Theft Auto Online.”

The beginning of the launch will be considered the "public beta", as stated on Rockstar's Newswire: “We feel Grand Theft Auto Online really only found its feet creatively with Heists,” says Josh Needleman, Senior Producer at Rockstar’s San Diego office, says.

“Our aim this time is to get there a bit quicker, but still be responsive to what people enjoy playing and evolve as we go.” Anyone who purchases Red Dead Redemption 2 will get access to Red Dead Online.

"Today we’re excited to announce Red Dead Online, a new online connected experience set against the backdrop of Red Dead Redemption 2's enormous open world. Red Dead Online is an evolution of the classic multiplayer experience in the original Red Dead Redemption, blending narrative with competitive and cooperative gameplay in fun new ways. Using the gameplay of the upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2 as a foundation, Red Dead Online will be ready to be explored alone or with friends, and will also feature constant updates and adjustments to grow and evolve this experience for all players," said the Red Dead dev team.

Red Dead Online is planned for launch in November 2018, initially as a public beta, with more news to come soon.

Access to Red Dead Online is free to anyone with a copy of Red Dead Redemption 2 on either PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.

Rockstar Hall-of-Game

With the recent release of Spider-Man and Tomb Raider, along with future releases of Red Dead, Fallout 76, and more, the final months of 2018 are shaping up to be something special.

Red Dead Redemption had been originally released over eight years ago today in May of 2010 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Something that many people didn't know is that Red Dead Redemption is actually the second game in the Red Dead franchise. The first game was actually a game by the name of Red Dead Revolver, released in 2004 for PlayStation 2 and the original Xbox. The game received generally positive reviews selling over 1 million copies as of 2010, which raised the bar high for what video games were capable of before the release of its sequel six years later. Redemption blew any expectations out of the water receiving an extremely high 95 percent on Metacritic and ranked the third best PS3 game of all time. The game was showered with praise selling over 11 million copies by 2011, and over 15 million by 2017.

Rockstar is well known for creating amazing and high-quality game series like GTA, Red Dead, LA Noire, and more. Every time they've created a new game or franchise they have improved and innovated significantly each time a new title was released. Each game exposing us to beautiful living, breathing worlds filled to the brim with fascinating characters and lush, lived in landscapes to explore for hours at a time, from the large cities in GTA to the Old West in Red Dead, everyone has been an amazing journey to begin upon their released.

I believe that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be another fine showcase of what the studio is capable of, and I can't wait to play it.