The Red Dead Online launch date is unlikely to go smoothly on PS4 and Xbox One.
And Rockstar Games are asking the help of all those Red Dead Redemption 2 fans out there to help make the beta release as painless as possible.
The development team behind one of 2018’s biggest releases have chosen to release the new multiplayer mode in waves.
This will mean that some players will not gain access until Friday, November 30, on PS4 and Xbox One.
The good news for those who are left out is that they will probably get to skip some of the first server crashes and gameplay problems.
“The launch of the Red Dead Online Beta is the first step in what will be a continually expanding and dynamic world, and the beta period will allow us to deal with the inevitable turbulence of launching any online experience of this size and scale,” a new Rockstar Games announcement confirms.
“During this process, we will be looking to our dedicated community to help us report and fix problems, share ideas, and assist in shaping the future of the full Online experience.
“As with all of our releases, we will strive to make the launch of Red Dead Online the best it can possibly be, and we ask that the community share that spirit with us over the next weeks and months.”
Rockstar Games has announced that the first wave of players gets to start playing tomorrow, November 27.
To be part of this first group, fans will need to own the Ultimate Edition of the game on either PS4 or Xbox One.
“This will help ensure that our servers can handle a steadily growing volume of concurrent players in the early hours and first days of the Beta and hopefully reduce the likelihood of any server crashes during the launch week as we get things up and running,” Rockstar adds.
Here’s the current plan for the Red Dead Online beta rollout:
- Tuesday, November 27th: All Red Dead Redemption 2: Ultimate Edition owners. Please note, players who purchased the physical Ultimate Edition must redeem the Ultimate Edition code in the packaging to be eligible.
- Wednesday, November 28th: All players who played Red Dead Redemption 2 on October 26th according to our data.
- Thursday, November 29th: All players who played Red Dead Redemption 2 between October 26th to October 29th according to our data.
- Friday, November 30th: All players who own Red Dead Redemption 2.
More news on what the new Red Dead Online gameplay will be like is set to be shared by Rockstar Games tomorrow.
From what has been confirmed so far, players will be able to create and customise their online characters and change their abilities based on how they want to play the game.
Red Dead Online will also support Posses of up to seven players, who will be able to head out hunting or fishing together; visit bustling towns; battle enemy gangs and attack their hideouts and hunt for treasure.
The standard style of GTA Online missions is also expected to be included, although it will be interesting to see how banking works.
Will players have special stash points to visit? Or will they have to bank it like a normal citizen?
And if they have to deposit their ill-gotten gains somewhere, will players also face being robbed by others?
All of these questions will be answered by Rockstar Games and the Red Dead Online team very soon.