Rockstar will no longer be releasing major content updates for Red Dead Online as it shifts development resources towards the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series.
The studio broke the news in a blog post, telling players it will instead focus on highlighting and sharing the “creative efforts” of the Red Dead community while also delivering seasonal special events and experiment improvements.
The company reassured players it will still support the online mode to help maintain a “healthy Red Dead Online environment,” but noted it will be building upon existing modes and adding new Telegram Missions rather than rolling out major themed updates as it did previously.
“Over the past few years, we have been steadily moving more development resources towards the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series — understanding more than ever the need to exceed players’ expectations and for this next entry to be the best it can possibly be — and as a result, we are in the process of making some changes to how we support Red Dead Online,” wrote the company.
GTA Online, meanwhile, will continue to receive steady support. Rockstar noted there are currently “more players than ever” dipping into the multiplayer mode after it launched on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S, and said it will continue to improve the overall GTA Online experience with new gameplay updates and top community-requested improvements.
Since launching in 2013, Grand Theft Auto V and GTA Online have become huge earners for Rockstar and parent company Take-Two Interactive. GTA V has sold over 165 million copies across three hardware generations — having launched on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 — and continues to drive revenue at Take-Two. Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold over 44 million units since launching in 2018.
There have also been recent rumblings that Rockstar scrapped plans to remaster the original Red Dead Redemption so it can focus on developing Grand Theft Auto VI. It’s also been suggested that the lukewarm reaction to its remasters of Grand Theft Auto III, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, which the company claimed didn’t meet its own standards of quality, has disrupted its plans.