Red Dead Online exits beta; Adds poker, story missions, and new roadmap

Red Dead Redemption 2 launched last October to massive acclaim thanks to its rich world and gripping story. Several weeks later, Rockstar Games launched a beta for Red Dead Online, a successor to GTA Online. The road has been bumpy but Rockstar is finally able to take it out of beta and kick off the true Red Dead Online experience.

Starting today thanks to a new update, players will find new activities, clothes, and gameplay mechanics in Red Dead Online.

For starters, players will be able to gamble their money away in the much-requested poker mini-game. You can sit down at a table in a saloon or start an invite only lobby with your pals, all tables seat six players and can be found in 5 cities: Blackwater, Saint Denis, Tumbleweed, Valentine and Flatneck Station.

The dynamic events found in the Red Dead Redemption 2’s single player have also made their way into Red Dead Online meaning you can find strangers in need of help or bandits trying to get the jump on you out in the wild.

Rockstar has also added new story missions to continue the narrative in Red Dead Online which will allow you to pull of new robberies and help your newfound friends. Outside of the main story, there are also new familiar faces to be found out in the world that will give you free roam missions.

In an attempt to make Red Dead Online a much more enjoyable experience for everyone, Rockstar has also added systems to allow you to be largely unbothered by griefers or make yourself known as a hostile cowboy.

Using a feature in the player menu, players can toggle between defensive and offensive playing styles. Defensive will add a shield around you that allows you to take significantly more damage, not be hogtied, auto-locked on to, get hit with melee attacks, and also disables PVP missions in free roam.

Should a hostile player kill someone using the defensive playstyle, they’ll receive a huge penalty. Defensive players are not restricted from using weapons but will be pulled out of the playstyle should they initiate a fight and also be penalized.

The more hostile you are, the more of a target you’ll become on the map with a red blip on the map the actively gets redder and redder. You’ll never be penalized for defending yourself or participating in PVP missions but attacking innocents will have consequences.

In one other effort to listen to player feedback, Rockstar has also issued fixes and improvements to a variety of mechanics and systems in Red Dead Online. You can view them below.

Removed Auto-Aim Headshot Tracking (Enemy Players Only): This subtle but important change affects the way players can earn headshots against rival players. While auto-aim still tracks to the center mass of an enemy player, you will no longer be able to simply flick up on the Right Stick to gain a headshot. This makes earning headshots slightly more challenging, which in turn makes competitive gameplay such as Showdown series more rewarding and balanced.

Faster Weapon Swaps/Instant Projectile Lighting: We have increased the speed of weapon swaps across the board, including instant projectile lighting to make throwing fire bottles and dynamite faster.

New Control Scheme – “FPS2”: In response to community feedback we’ve added a new control scheme FPS2 (+variants). This follows our ‘FPS’ layout but moves sprint to [R1] and crouch to [X]. (This option is available in both Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online).

Daily Challenge Updates: In response to your feedback, we’ve removed all PvP-related Daily Challenges from Free Roam and added a number of new Daily Challenges and Rewards, including Challenge Streaks with progressively increasing Gold rewards.

New Awards: Several new awards in Free Roam have been added including awards associated with the latest gameplay.

Global Signal Timers: Players tackling Free Roam Missions will have a bit more flexibility to operate with an increased global signal timer and a reduced range at which players are signaled.

Press Charges: When a lower Hostility player is killed without retaliating they will have an option to “Press Charges” during the respawn period, which will enforce an increase on their attacker’s Hostility and Bounty value. Press Charges is not available if you are a high Hostility player or marked as an enemy to the player who killed you.

Horse Specialty Selection: You can now use the Player Menu to preset which of your owned horses you would like to use in Free Roam, Races, Showdown Modes and on missions.

Increased Gold Payouts: We have adjusted the economy to increase Gold payouts across the board, with most Gold-earning activities now awarding up to double the previous amount. Starting today for a limited time, players will also receive 1 Gold Bar per rank they progress.

Finally, Rockstar has addressed the future of Red Dead Online by teasing a new gameplay system they’re calling “roles”. This will allow you to truly immerse yourself in the world and role-play as an outlaw, a bounty hunter, or a “collector” who is more laid back and wants to focus on fishing, hunting, or even perhaps setting up a business as a trader at their own camp.

You’ll be able to juggle between multiple roles or focus on just one depending on your playstyle and will be given a whole host of new weapons, outfits, and gears to truly play the part. This update will come sometime this summer.