Red Dead Online players are furious over January update, complain about the lack of content

Rockstar Games recently announced their January plans for Red Dead Online and fans are far from happy regarding it. It is not the first time that players have been unhappy with the state of the Wild West's multiplayer.

Updates in Red Dead Online have barely been fresh and are usually a repetitive mess. The Blood Money update was released in the middle of last year to a lukewarm response. Halloween Pass 2 also did not win the community over either.

While players had high hopes that Rockstar Games would show some love for their beloved game, they were severely disappointed to what they received once the new year came.

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Red Dead Online: The January update and players' dissatisfaction

Rockstar Games shared that, for the January update, it would provide bonuses on "A Land Opportunities Missions, Call to Arms, Gang Hideouts, and the featured series." The company had also announced that the bonuses would last the whole month for players to reap benefits from.

However, the update basically added boosts to a number of game modes that were already there in the game. The featured series makes little sense, and according to SomeOrdinaryGamers on YouTube, it is so because they are mostly empty as players are busy grinding.

He also goes on to say that the online game barely allows the player to do any criminal activity to justify the title of outlaws.

Red Dead Online forces players to grind a number of currencies that are available within the game by spending a significant amount of time completing missions with low payouts. The community was looking forward to significant updates for the new year including possible new roles like a Rancher, heists, new horses and weapons, and even a DLC.

The January update has been anything but. Fans have been livid with the meager update. Compared to the love that the developers have shown towards GTA Online, which recently received a significant story update, Red Dead Online has barely received the deserved attention. #SaveRedDeadOnline has been trending ever since.

Community reaction has ranged from frustration to disbelief to wondering how Rockstar could abandon the game and its player base. Ranging from memes from the game and other popular cultural media to utter disbelief, they have expressed their anger over social media.

Apart from memes, the hashtag has gained some serious traction with a huge number of players speaking out. The negative reaction has even had an economic impact on the stocks of Take-Two Interactive, the parent company of Rockstar Games.

Red Dead Online and its history that has disappointed fans

The lack of content in Red Dead Online is telling. Earlier in 2020, players dressed up as clowns because they felt that they were made to feel like clowns by the developers with the dearth of new things. Fans were furious back then, that there had been no significant update to the game in almost a year.

It's been more than a year since the clown-mania of the digital West but it seems like Rockstar has yet to placate the fans. Boosts to older content are not remotely enough to make the players happy. Some members of the community have also tried to suggest ways that Rockstar can capitalize on Red Dead Online. Dangerous_Lab_6078 on Reddit says:

"RDO will never be as lucrative as GTAo, one talks to a certain niche of the population, the other to pretty much everybody. They should just change the economic model on which RDO is based. It works on GTA, it clearly doesn't on RDO. Idk for the others, but I would pay for a $30 season pass if it presents good content."

The growing discontent has been bubbling over for some time now and now it seems to have reached critical mass. The player base has been clamoring for meaningful updates for a significant period of time now.

While they had thought the lack of a proper winter update would translate into one in 2022, the January development has effectively dashed any such hope. It seems imperative that the developers add some meaningful content - the sooner, the better.

About the author

Angshuman is an Assistant Content Manager, Gaming, at Sportskeeda with a specialized focus on Pokemon. While completing his Master's degree in English Literature, Angshuman's research topics primarily included the many facets of game studies. That, along with his love for the medium which he believes to be the pinnacle of storytelling, led him to become a writer in the genre.

Angshuman prefers both solo and multiplayer titles on PC and PS5. His love for gaming stemmed from playing Bounce and God of War on mobile phones, and on to Age of Empires and Zoo Tycoon on PC. If he ever wished to convert a gaming cynic into a admirer, he would recommend indie games because of their versatility and their ability to be unaffected by genre-stifling publisher expectations.

Angshuman has interviewed several indie game developers in his career, spoken at many conferences, and contributed to book chapters. In his capacity to create highly accurate content, he thoroughly researches a topic, tracks citations until he finds the original source, and ensures his content doesn't misrepresent, misquote, or appropriate information.

In his spare time, Angshuman enjoys story writing, shooting landscapes and short films, reading, and painting.

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Edited by Abu Amjad Khan