There’s trouble in the Old West as Rockstar games’ big update for Red Dead Online has players running for the hills. Hoping to cash in on the hype surrounding Grand Theft Auto Online, the formula hasn’t worked quite so well in the dusty plains of the American desert.
While Red Dead Redemption 2 was a highlight of 2018’s impressive video game legacy, Red Dead Online seems to have fallen under its own weight. The first big update promised to fix some of the many gripes gamers were experiencing, but instead, developers have simply added more problems. Just three months after the highly anticipated online version launched, it seems like it’s pistols at dawn between players and Rockstar Games.
When Rockstar announced the update on Facebook, it didn’t take long for the comments section to fill with angry rants from disgruntled players. Rockstar boasted “competitive gameplay” and “daily objectives” alongside “player customization and emotes.” Instead, the company has delivered complaints about grinding, nerfed hunting abilities, and ludicrous microtransactions.
Rockstar has attempted (and succeeded) to stop griefing players to a degree. Non-griefing players will now be invisible to anyone more than 150 meters away, while griefers will be more visible on the map by having a bounty put on their head. However, even this has its critics as others point out the addition of bounties for relatively minor incidents.
The list of complaints is extensive but focus on main areas including the new emotes, daily challenges, and hunting. Some of the new daily challenges involve a weapon that hasn’t even been released in Red Dead Online yet, microtransactions include a poor set of clothing options that cost gold bars, and emotes can cost up to $100 to buy. Elsewhere, new headshot bounties actually turn players into griefers more than before as actual griefers can simply ride off-radar to escape. Finally, animal carcasses have been nerfed to the extreme and badly damaged the money of those who basically relied on hunting for income.
The push to microtransactions could have something to do with recent reports that Red Dead Online is hemorrhaging money month after month. Whether it’s the period setting with lack of exciting weaponry and vehicles or extended wait between updates that’s putting gamers off, there’s something clearly wrong with Red Dead Online. Another huge problem is the wait fans have experienced to even get to this update. Even in beta, three months is a long time to wait for fixes. Sadly, it could be a case of too little, too late for Red Dead Online.
More: Red Dead Online Battle Royale Mode ‘Gun Rush’ Launches
Source: Rockstar Games
