Rockstar Games has a pretty clear goal ahead of itself: meet, if not exceed, expectations for Grand Theft Auto 6. Its predecessor is incredibly popular and has sold amazingly well, so living up to that is going to be a challenge, even for a studio with the pedigree of Rockstar Games. To achieve this, Rockstar recently confirmed it was winding down development on Red Dead Online, more or less letting the mode go on autopilot.
In response to this news, Red Dead Online fans held a funeral for the game, where many took to the virtual Wild West one last time to say goodbye to it. Arthur Morgan actor Roger Clark commented on this at the time, saying that the community had his sympathies but that he knew it would never die (accompanied by an OutlawsforLife hashtag). Although the dust has seemingly settled, John Marston's actor also chimed in during a recent interview.
Rob Wiethoff has played John Marston in the original Red Dead Redemption, the Undead Nightmare expansion, and Red Dead Redemption 2, so he has embodied the character since his inception. He recently talked about the effective end of Red Dead Online with Dan Allen Gaming on YouTube, where Wiethoff expressed similar sympathies as Roger Clark regarding its fate. But, for Wiethoff, it seems there is a bit of hope in this news.
As seemingly first reported by Comicbook, Wiethoff feels fans are upset because something loved is being taken away/not being continued the way they want it to be, but such emotion and the immense fan response to Red Dead Online wouldn't be possible if it weren't for how great that something was. Now, Wiethoff's advice on the situation is "you got to be patient! Let [Rockstar] do what they do, and you're going to be blown away again. That's the way it goes!" In other words, it would seem that Wiethoff thinks Grand Theft Auto 6 and the future of Rockstar Games is worth waiting for.
It should be noted that Red Dead Redemption fans may not exactly like Grand Theft Auto, and vice versa. The Red Dead and GTA franchises have tons of differences that could easily fragment Rockstar fans, so some may not share Wiethoff's sentiment here. Still, it'll be interesting to see where Rockstar Games goes from here.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
Source: Comicbook