Is Rockstar shutting down Red Dead Online?

Red Dead Online will no longer receive “major themed content updates” in part because Rockstar Games is pulling resources into the next Grand Theft Auto title, the studio said Thursday. Fans have wondered if Red Dead Online has been abandoned, and while the game isn’t being shut down, Rockstar won’t be making as much content for it moving forward.

“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,” Rockstar wrote in a blog post.

As for the future of Red Dead Online, “alongside seasonal special events and experience improvements — plus other changes to enhance and maintain a healthy Red Dead Online environment — we plan to build upon existing modes and add new Telegram Missions this year, rather than delivering major themed content updates like in previous years, and we will continue to highlight and share the creative efforts of our Red Dead community at every opportunity via the Newswire and beyond,” Rockstar said.

Ahead of Rockstar’s Thursday announcement, a Red Dead franchise fan account had been planning a funeral for Red Dead Online for July 13th, the one-year anniversary of the game’s most recent major content update. The funeral is still planned for next week.

Who's up for it then? A funeral to celebrate one year of Red Dead Online being abandoned?

Dress up in your best funeral attire, get your friends to join, tag us in pics & use the hashtags below!

Save the date: Wednesday July 13th. Are you in?#RedDeadFuneral #SaveRedDeadOnline

— Red Officially Dead (@RedDeadRDC) July 5, 2022

Rockstar finally confirmed in February that it’s working on the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. The studio is also continuing to add content to GTA Online, and it detailed some of the updates in the works in its Thursday blog post.

Red Dead Online players have known for some time that Rockstar Games' priorities lay in different directions. Rockstar still delivered irregular updates of substance, including monthly events and new missions expanding existing content. But major content updates akin to what Grand Theft Auto Online received were few and far between. Now the inevitable next step for Red Dead Online has arrived. In its tentative plans for Red Dead Online in 2022, Rockstar is confirming that it's winding down development.

To be clear, support for Red Dead Online isn't fully concluding. Rockstar starts by making clear that there is new content coming to Red Dead Online through the rest of 2022. That starts with continued monthly events, such as bonus RDO$ and XP for completing certain missions and other incentives and discounts. Further, Rockstar has plans to deliver new Telegram Missions in 2022. In terms of content plans, that's all Rockstar has to offer this year.

What that means is that Rockstar isn't planning to deliver anymore themed content updates, game modes, Specialist Roles, missions, or other content at this time. As explanation, Rockstar says that it has been "steadily moving more development resources towards the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series." Rockstar says it did this with the belief that it needed to "exceed players' expectations" for the next GTA. Obviously, Red Dead Online players had their own expectations, but expectations for the larger game won out.

Fans of Red Dead Online can hardly blame Rockstar, of course. Grand Theft Auto Online is one of the most popular, and lucrative, games in the world. The Grand Theft Auto franchise is one of the most successful in the video game industry's history. Red Dead Redemption has always been more of a Rockstar passion project, made to let the development team explore its creativity between Grand Theft Auto projects.

Rockstar closes out its post about its Red Dead Online plans for 2022 by thanking its community of players for all the constructive feedback. It says that this player feedback has been "instrumental" to the success of both Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Online. Further, it will help Rockstar with projects in the future.

Red Dead Online players will be able to continue to play as normal, regardless of whether much in the way of new content is delivered. That Red Dead Online exists and is as excellent an experience as it is can still be celebrated. That Red Dead Online development is winding down may be disappointing, but hopefully not the end of Red Dead Redemption.

Red Dead Online is available now on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.

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Is Red Dead Online going to shut down?

Fans have wondered if Red Dead Online has been abandoned, and while the game isn't being shut down, Rockstar won't be making as much content for it moving forward.

Is Rockstar done with Red Dead Online?

In an update on its website, the developer discussed its plans for both Red Dead Online and Grand Theft Auto Online, revealing that it will be winding down the former -- in part as the studio concentrates on its next blockbuster.

Why did Rockstar stop Red Dead Online?

This time, Rockstar said that they will stop Red Dead Online's support in order to focus on the GTA franchise. The company has decided to switch focus following GTA V's release on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S. Allegedly, said releases have brought more GTA Online players than ever before.