Red Dead Online Beta Update (Jan 25, 2019) Gold Bonus, Gun Rush Lobby Improvements and More

Gold Bonus

Thank you to dedicated Red Dead Online Beta players worldwide for your continuing feedback as we work together to refine the game experience. As a token of our gratitude for your support and understanding throughout this Beta period, we are rewarding this weekend’s active players with a bonus of 5 Gold Bars. Play the Red Dead Online Beta between today Friday January 25 and Sunday January 27 to qualify for the bonus, which will be delivered to your account by Tuesday January 29.

Gun Rush Feedback & Matchmaking Improvements

Following the launch of the new Gun Rush mode, we identified a few matchmaking issues, some of which we have addressed with short-term improvements and all of which we are working towards more permanent and proper fixes for in the longer term. The minor improvements should help generate fuller lobbies and we will add more fixes in upcoming title updates. Gun Rush is best experienced with as many competitors as possible, so if you had any issues with smaller lobbies around release, we strongly encourage you to give it another go this weekend as we are already regularly seeing much fuller matches on both PS4 and Xbox One.

For those who haven’t tried it yet, Gun Rush is a tooth and nail, Western style battle-royale fight to the death for up to 32 players that can be played either with Teams or as a Free For All. Players compete in an ever-shrinking battle zone with horses for quick transport (and associated risks). Skirmish for weapons ranging from Mauser Pistols to Repeating Shotguns to Fire Bottles and Dynamite Arrows – as well as for valuable, hard to obtain armor like the headshot-thwarting Ned Kelly Armor to help you survive to the end.

We also updated our official Feedback page to now include dedicated sections for Gun Rush. We of course want to know what you like, don’t like, suggestions for improvements and changes to this and other modes and types of gameplay – so please do keep it coming!

More to Come

Our teams are currently working on lots of fixes, changes and improvements to the game based on player feedback including the quality of life improvements that we detailed in our last status update: Proximity-Based Player Blips, Parley Changes with quicker access to Feuding, Law and Bounty Improvements to discourage griefing while introducing a new Freeroam dynamic between bounty hunters and criminal rogues, plus Daily Challenges with gold nugget rewards and more. We are currently planning to have these and other improvements to the game included in a Title Update scheduled for release in the coming months – we’ll provide more information as we get closer to the date.

A big thank you to everyone who has taken part in the Red Dead Online Beta over the holidays, and especially to those who have taken the time to provide us with their feedback. Please keep it coming - Red Dead Online will stay in beta for a few more months yet as we have many more new gameplay features to add across the board as well as further changes to improve, stabilize and refine the overall experience.

Today’s update to the Red Dead Online Beta introduces Gun Rush, where you’ll put your survival instincts to the test, gathering weapons and ammunition while the play area shrinks in this new mode for up to 32 players. Available to play now in Free-for-all and Team variations, where the last one standing wins.

More updates are coming soon including new Races and Showdown Modes and new clothing and emotes, as well as some additional changes based on player feedback including:

• Daily Challenges: Tackle new challenges each day covering every aspect of the game, from sharpshooting to evading the law.
• Law and Bounty Upgrades: Some changes are coming to the way the Law and Bounty systems work in Red Dead Online to reduce the enticements for griefing. Soon, players will get a bounty for committing crimes and will be incentivized to pay them off within an allotted time. Wait too long and bounty hunters from each of the states will track the player forcing them to either pay up or escape.
• Parley Changes: We’re making the Parley system easier to trigger so that you can avoid aggressive players more quickly. In addition, it will be easier to trigger Feuds, Posse Feuds and Leader Feuds to take on attacking players in structured competition. 
• Proximity-Based Player Blips: Player location blips will soon appear only over short distances, reducing the range at which you are visible to others, decreasing the likelihood of being targeted by another player across large areas. Down the line, we’re also looking to introduce the ability to identify players who grief and kill indiscriminately with a progressively darkening blip that becomes more visible and at a longer range, so everyone in a session can identify potentially dangerous opponents at a glance and from a safe distance.

More to Come
We are working on lots of new content that we will be releasing this year. Just a few of the updates in the works are:

• All-new missions to build on your Story in A Land Of Opportunities – from previously established characters like Horley and Jessica LeClerk, and some new ones as well.
• A range of Dynamic Events throughout the world
• Lots of new competitive modes including new Showdown Modes and Races
• Plus new weapons and clothing, and lots more that we’re not quite ready to announce just yet…

Xbox One players can also now access the Red Chestnut Arabian Horse, Alligator Skin Ranch Cutter Saddle and the High Roller Double-Action Revolver in the Red Dead Online Beta.

Stay tuned to the Rockstar Newswire for the latest information on the Red Dead Online Beta and please continue to submit feedback to the www.reddeadonline.com/feedback website.