Red Dead Online now available as a separate game for $5

[Polycount]

In brief: Rockstar's latest open-world titles, GTA V and Red Dead Redemption 2, feature expansive multiplayer modes that have long since grown into their own projects, largely isolated from their single player campaigns. With RDR2's online component, Rockstar will be doubling down on this concept by detaching Red Dead Online from the core game entirely -- you're now able to buy it separately, if you so choose.

Existing Red Dead Redemption 2 customers will not be affected: they will still own Red Dead Online and all of their progress will remain in tact. However, new customers will be able to snag RDO across a wide variety of platforms, including PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, starting December 1. The game will also be playable on next-gen consoles through their respective backward compatibility features.

Red Dead Online's price starts at $5, but that's only an "introductory" offer. Come February 15, 2021, you'll have to pay $20 to access the standalone game. Naturally, console players will need an active PS Plus or Xbox Live Gold membership to play RDO due to its online-only nature.

Sadly, splitting up Red Dead Redemption 2's main story from its online component won't result in a file size reduction -- it'll still be 123GB for downloads. We assume that's because the single player campaign's content is still in RDO's files, you just have to unlock it via a separate purchase (we're unsure how much that will be, though).

All in all, Rockstar's latest decision does make business sense. There's undoubtedly a sizable portion of RDR2's playerbase that only cares about the online component, and never bothered with the main story at all -- the same applies to GTA 5 and GTA Online.

By letting those players buy into RDO for a cheap introductory price (even $20 will pale in comparison to the full game's $60 price tag), Rockstar is creating more opportunities to hook customers and generate revenue from microtransaction purchases.

And for players, nothing should really be changing here. As far as we can tell, you can still buy the complete RDR2 experience (including RDO) for full price, if you wish, so this sounds like a win-win situation.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/87734-rockstar-red-dead-online-separate-game.html

 

[SirDigby]

LOL they'd actually have to do something with it!

 

[loki1944]

Fine with me, online was a mess for me, not touching it again anyway.

 

[terzaerian]

Fine with me, online was a mess for me, not touching it again anyway.

On the PC, I'm pretty sure this is by design. It seems obvious to me that the developers care very little for the PC, and likely only ported GTA V and RDR 2 to PC under executive pressure to do so. They have done nothing ever since to fix QOL issues on PC wrt mouse sensitivity and hackers.

 

[Nestea]

On the PC, I'm pretty sure this is by design. It seems obvious to me that the developers care very little for the PC, and likely only ported GTA V and RDR 2 to PC under executive pressure to do so. They have done nothing ever since to fix QOL issues on PC wrt mouse sensitivity and hackers.

hard to counter cheaters with p2p servers

 

[terzaerian]

hard to counter cheaters with p2p servers

And that's the PC's fault how, exactly? They designed the game. They have its source code. They could make a fix if they wanted... and they don't want to. This lies more in the realm of a bad port from a lazy developer than a flaw with the PC as a platform.

 

[Nestea]

I know. just saying @terzaerian
gta5 is the same way. only reason I haven't bought gta5 (on PC). dont own consoles

 

[Kirby1]

Don't play it. The single player is great. The multiplayer is a very slow grind designed to get you to pay for unlocks. It's not fun.

 

[p51d007]

I was at a friend's family house over the Thanksgiving weekend. Husband, wife and
one of their kids played it for 3 straight hours.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

hard to counter cheaters with p2p servers

Dedicated and private server options would fix that immediately.

 

[Aryassen]

Dedicated and private server options would fix that immediately.

...and would cost more to Rockstar, and I guess that is a strong motivation for them to stick with the current model

I also tried GTA V, and during those miserable 3 hours I have been trying to make it work, I've developed a deep and long lasting loathe for it, and now I'm not touching anything created by Rockstar, I don't care if it is offred even for free. Like others mentioned, they don't seem to care about PC (an example, why is the game stuck at 800*600/24p after every single restart? On a GTX 1070? Just one of the many *****ic behavioiurs I observed)

 

[hel0sn8]

...and would cost more to Rockstar, and I guess that is a strong motivation for them to stick with the current model

I also tried GTA V, and during those miserable 3 hours I have been trying to make it work, I've developed a deep and long lasting loathe for it, and now I'm not touching anything created by Rockstar, I don't care if it is offred even for free. Like others mentioned, they don't seem to care about PC (an example, why is the game stuck at 800*600/24p after every single restart? On a GTX 1070? Just one of the many *****ic behavioiurs I observed)

It had been offered for Free on Epic a small while ago. Kinda big news, very hard to miss it.. But somehow you did. The issue CLEARLY is not that of the game makers here. Its entirely yours. The majority rest of us (the millions around the World) have been playing for a very very long time now - this game is well old. We don't have issues. Yet you seem to think is broken for all because it doesn't work for you. Get your machine in check. Your machine and thus you are the problem. It doesn't work because of you. Not because of Rockstar. Proven. Millions off times over, the World over. Absolutely ridiculous for you to exclaim what you have. Joke comment.

 

[Aryassen]

OK, let's get some things straight:
1) I did have GTA V on Epic, as a free offering (that's why I joined Epic, actually, I got pulled in...but since then I made a couple of purchases, so I think it all worked out for everyone, in the end). I just stated that even though it was offered for free, I don't want to touch it in the future, as I got disillusioned.
2) PC is fine. Runs Assasin's Creed Origins, Metro Exodus, Witcher 3, Wolfenstein Old blood and Control just fine, also run Mass Effect Andromedia in the recent past, without any issues (through Steam, Origin and Epic, none of the launchers played up. Rockstar's did. Sorry it doesn't align with your experience, it is what has happened)
3) During that miserable 3 hours, I have tried many things. Restarted Windows a lot of times, updated graphics driver, tried to save different options in the settings and restarted the game countless times (and started the settings adjustment from 800*600/24p, and save.after.every.single.adjustment.because.there.was.not.central.way.to.adjust-graphics, like set it to "high", for instance). Tried to check forums, FAQ (no dice) and support site. The support site was down (endless loading). The portal where the registration was supposed to be completed was broken (endless cycle), clearing cache, different browser (I have tried Firefox, Edge and Chrome) didn't work. Self-check didn't work. Re-install didn't work. The only thing that worked is Rockstar's promotional site, urging me to spend money with them. Well, after this, no thank you.
4) You are right: I might be a problem, now. I had big expectations, I felt let down, I got fed up with what I have seen, and I got biased (in a negative way). Still, this is what actually happened, I'm not making it up: I'm happy that milliions are playing the game happily (my oldest friend being one of them), but it didn't work for me. Such as life