RDR 2 Online: Release date and details revealed

Red Dead Redemption 2 is fast on track to becoming one of the biggest and most successful console releases of all time. Raking in $725 million in just the opening weekend, Red Dead 2 boasts the most successful launch of any entertainment product, topping Marvel’s juggernaut “Infinity War.” A large piece is still missing from Red Dead 2, however, and that’s the multiplayer mode. That’s about to change. Red Dead Redemption 2 Online is here, with a tiered beta release throughout the week culminating in a full release on November 30.

RDR 2 Online: Release Date and Details Revealed

Rockstar is no stranger to introducing expansive multiplayer modes for its games. Its previous flagship title, Grand Theft Auto 5, included a groundbreaking multiplayer that blended narrative storytelling with both cooperative and competitive game modes in an expansive map. GTA’s multiplayer continues to be updated with regular events, content updates, weapons, and other DLC that keeps the mode relevant.

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Rockstar is taking cues from GTA’s multiplayer for Red Dead, specifically in regards to the way the mode adds storytelling to the mix. As in Red Dead 2’s story mode, Honor will play a large role in multiplayer. Different mission types, characters, and other perks will be made available to you depending on how honorably (or dishonorably) you choose to play.

RDR 2 Online will begin with character creation, which includes detailing your character’s appearance and also choosing your stats and attributes. From there, you’ll be tasked with a breakout from Sisika Penitentiary, and your career as a Wild West gunslinger will begin in earnest. Many of the same mechanics from the Story Mode will be carried over into Multiplayer. This includes Camps. You’ll be able to form gangs with your friends and choose where to set up your hideout, just as in the single-player story.

Once introduced to the game world, players will be able to participate in varying types of missions and activities:

• Free Roam Events will be returning from GTA Online; these ambient in-world events often entailed shootouts with rival gangs or organizations or attempting to transport a score from one point on the map to another.
• Survival Missions also return from GTA Online. A player or group of players is tasked with defending a certain location against increasingly difficult waves of NPC enemies from rival gangs.
• Racing is also back, but this time around, players will be racing horses and stagecoaches instead of high-tech supercars.
• A Land of Opportunites will be the multiplayer answer to the campaign. Players will be able to take on multi-part story-based missions in teams of 2-4. These missions will evolve based on your Honor levels, so the same mission can be taken on in different ways.

More traditional competitive game types will also return, from King of Hill to Capture the Flag to Deathmatches.

Josh Needleman, senior producer at Rockstar San Diego, summed up the overall feel of the multiplayer in an interview with IGN: “Like the single-player game’s story of Arthur Morgan, we want people to settle into their online characters and feel like every activity makes sense for the character, the setting and the time. This should feel intimate and personal while still feeling fun and action-packed from moment to moment.”

Currently, Rockstar is implementing a tiered release for the multiplayer mode to prevent server crashes. Here’s when you can play:

• Tuesday, November 27: All Red Dead Redemption 2: Ultimate Edition owners.
• Wednesday, November 28: All players who played Red Dead Redemption 2 on October 26.
• Thursday, November 29: All players who played Red Dead Redemption 2 between October 26 to October 29.
• Friday, November 30: All Red Dead Redemption 2 players.

Saddle up, cowboys. It’s time to ride out.