Much like zombies themselves, zombie games never seem to go away for long. However, it feels like there was a particularly large hoard around the time Rockstar released the first Red Dead Redemption. That probably explains the first game’s Undead Nightmare expansion, which brought the zombie apocalypse to the wild west.
Unfortunately for fans of bullwhips and necrosis, the living dead never made their way into Red Dead Online. Well, that’s what everyone thought anyway, as one unusual glitch appears to have created a zombie in Rockstar’s wild west MMO.
A few days ago, Reddit user jasonpf1123 encountered the “undead fella” at Red Dead Online's Bearclaw Camp location. They uploaded a clip to Reddit, and it clearly shows what appears to be a shambling corpse. The zombie is complete with rotting skin, tattered clothes, and three arrows protruding from its torso. However, it seems to lack any AI programming or unique sound effects and just stares silently with one looping animation.
One might assume that the zombie is a mod, though the poster later confirmed he’s on the PS4. Alternatively, some might think it’s an Easter egg either referencing Undead Nightmare or teasing a follow-up. Another theory proposed on the subreddit is that Rockstar could be working on a Halloween event for Red Dead Online. The commenter speculates that a glitch caused an unfinished zombie NPC to spawn into the game. After all, this would hardly be the first time players encountered bizarre bugs in Red Dead Online. It wouldn’t even be the first time a glitch accidentally created zombies.
However, Reddit user OllyDee came up with what seems to be a more likely explanation for this creepy glitch in Red Dead Online. Fans may notice that the zombie appears to be looping the same animation used by wounded NPCs. The game also tends to spawn a lot of corpses in and around Bearclaw Camp. So, it’s possible that Red Dead Online somehow spawned a corpse in the “wounded” state rather than “dead.”
If that sounds strange, remember that corpses are often still considered NPCs by the game engine. This is even true for character models that the developers never intended to have walk around. Players can see this in many Bethesda games, where they can often resurrect corpses through console commands. In some cases, the game may even assign generic dialog lines to the reanimated corpse. It’s not clear exactly what caused this glitch to happen in Red Dead Online, but it seems like the most plausible explanation.
However, just because this is probably a one-off bug doesn’t mean it has to stay that way. Undead Nightmare introduced zombies to a setting where they rarely appear, and there are several mods that do the same for Red Dead Redemption 2. So, lots of people might not mind if this bug became a feature in Red Dead Online.
Red Dead Online is available on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.