While a multiplayer game may have a large player base to begin with and a gameplay loop that is wholly entertaining, fans are going to drop off that title over time unless it is given consistent updates. Often, if a game is left without a major update or new content for an extended period of time, this will result in gamers labeling it as being "dead." Many fans believe that the online mode of Red Dead Redemption 2, Red Dead Online, has suffered from a lack of attention and is essentially dead. Even with a new Red Dead Online update in July, many players are still upset.
The July 2022 Red Dead Online update will mark a year since the last update for the game. Last year's Blood Money update added a lot to the game, and like some of the expansions for GTA Online, it changed the experience significantly. However, the July 2022 patch doesn't offer nearly as much of a noteworthy change, mostly giving players discounts on items such as ammo, gun belts, horses, and more.
This has led to a good portion of the Red Dead Online community believing that the game is slowly being abandoned. Red Dead News on Twitter decided to post a tweet asking fans if they would even be up for a funeral celebrating one year of the game being abandoned. Over 4000 fans voted that they would be in favor of the funeral, with some stating that they wouldn't attend simply because they couldn't be bothered installing the game again.
Despite over 44 million copies of Red Dead Redemption 2 being sold, fans of the online portion of the game have developed a great level of apathy towards it. With patches and updates slowing down in their release, to fans feeling as though they aren't being listened to, Red Dead Online has a whole host of issues that have led to it receiving a funeral from the community. Whether this Red Dead Online fan backlash will cause any response from Rockstar is unknown.
Previously, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has stated that Red Dead Online hasn't been abandoned, but pushed the responsibility of updates and new content to Rockstar. With any additions to Red Dead Online being up to the famed developer, all Zelnick could confirm is that the servers for Red Dead Online won't be shutting down. In comparison to the success and continuous updates brought to GTA Online, many fans find the lack of attention on Red Dead Online to be enough to remove a lot of the fun from the game.
Red Dead Online is available now for PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.