Red Dead Redemption 2 - Online multiplayer guide (PS4, Xbox One)
Everything we currently know about the upcoming sequel's multiplayer mode.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is due for release by the end of the second quarter of 2018 (Spring is the window most recently given), and as well as offering up another fantastic single player western experience, we also know that multiplayer will be making a comeback.
In this article we've pulled together everything that's currently known about the online mulitplayer component of Red Dead Redemption 2, along with plenty of speculation based on publisher Rockstar's recent approach to multiplayer. As extra details are confirmed, we'll add them in here, and we'll also include tips and tricks for every element of the game at launch.
UPDATE #1 - 7th February 2018
According to a set of leaks reportedly received by Trusted Reviews, a Battle Royale mode will indeed come to Red Dead Redemption 2. The news report outlines three different game modes that are tipped to make an appearance in the hotly anticipated sequel.
- Battle Royale - Although the leak fails to go into great depth about the exactly nature of Red Dead Redemption 2's Battle Royale mode, it is highly likely that it will look very much like the modes you've become accustomed to from playing Fortnite or PUBG.
- Revive and Survive - This rather simple affair will apparently see a pair of teams fighting continuously against one another. It would appear that while all this is going on, you'll have a small amount of time to revive fallen teammates before they're removed from the match altogether.
- Money Grab - In Money Grab, two teams will go head to head in an attempt to get their hands on sacks of money that are located in a central spot on the map. The idea is to get your hands on the loot as fast as you can, get back to base, and then repeat the process until the most successful team emerges victorious from the match overall.
We'll update this article as soon as we have more detail on these modes or any other elements related to Red Dead Redemption 2's online multiplayer component.
What will Red Dead Redemption 2's multiplayer include?
So far all we've heard from Rockstar Games is that Red Dead Redemption 2 will feature “a brand new online multiplayer experience”. Considering the company has reportedly made an eye-watering $500m from GTA Online in just a few years, we're expecting a much more meaningful multiplayer experience for this sequel.
The are movie-references galore in GTA Online's missions, and we'd expect Rockstar to take the same approach for Red Dead Redemption 2. It seems like a certainty that there'll be references to some of the biggest westerns from years gone by in the sequel's multiplayer mode.
GTA Online also features defense challenges, where one team fights to hold onto a building while the other team mounts a full-on assault. It's easy to imagine a similar system working in Red Dead Redemption 2's multiplayer, with one team defending a desert fortress while another attacks - indeed we've seen such missions in the first game's single-player campaign!
Additionally, GTA Online provides players with plenty of co-op adventures, as well as the now well-established hoarde mode. We'd be surprised if there weren't co-op robberies on trains and steamboats to plan and execute in the Red Dead sequel, and opportunities to fight off endless waves of assailants elsewhere. Perhaps we'll even get to join different factions such as lawbreakers or lawkeepers?
While vehicle options are naturally going to be limited, we also hope to see plenty of horse-racing in the game, and endless opportunities to tear around the gorgeous landscape that Rockstar is no doubt cooking up for us.
Will Red Dead Redemption 2 have a Battle Royale mode?
Given the enthusiasm with which the games development world has embraced the Battle Royale concept, we wouldn't be at all surprised to see it make an appearance in Red Dead Redemption 2.
If you're unfamiliar with the concept, Battle Royale games like Player Unknown's Battlegrounds see up to 100 players fighting each other to become the last man standing. Starting out with absolutely nothing, players pick their starting point and then scavenge for weapons to take out their enemies with.
If the first game was anything to go by, we can expect Red Dead Redemption 2 to have a huge sprawling map, and the western settings seems tailor-made for this kind of experience. There'll be loads of open desert areas, small towns to explore and ramshackle shelters sprinkled around. We'd love to see it happen.
Going back to GTA Online once more, there's indeed a mode where players compete in an ever-shrinking playable area, so it seems very likely that this concept will be incorporated into Red Dead Redeption 2's multiplayer mode.
Will there be a beta for Red Dead Redemption 2?
Tough to say. Rockstar likes to keep things pretty close to its chest until they're ready, but pre-release betas have become almost standard since the publisher's last game was released.
GTA Online also had a shocking start in terms of technical problems, and the company may well want to test its RDR2 server infrastructure with at least a brief burst of player engagement.
Regardless, be careful out there. A few scams have already done the rounds in recent months, so only sign up to something advertised by an official Rockstar website or social media account.
That's all for the first edition of our Red Dead Redemption online multiplayer guide. As new details are confirmed by Rockstar we'll add them in a future update. Don't forget to let us know what you're hoping to see in the comments!