Red Dead Online scales back support

Fans of Red Dead Online are in for a disappointment. In a blog post from Rockstar Games earlier today, the company confirmed that they are scaling back support for RDO. This comes as the studio ramps up development on the highly anticipated Grand Theft Auto VI.

In the post, Rockstar noted the migration of development resources to the latest entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. The Red Dead Online portion of the blog begins with an attempt to set expectations: “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.”

This announcement is far from shocking — the Grand Theft Auto series is Rockstar’s bread and butter. Released initially in 2013, Grand Theft Auto 5 has sold over 155 million copies as of the end of 2021. That’s a lot of copies, but the surprising statistic is that GTA:O brings in roughly a billion dollars each year. With those numbers, it comes as no surprise that Rockstar is focusing more on GTA than any other property.

So, what does that mean for RDO? Less content going forward: “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.”

Though RDO is not dead, and will continue to receive limited support, the game’s future is uncertain. Check out Rockstar’s latest blog for more details.