Red Dead Online announced but still no word on PC release

Red Dead Online has been announced by Rockstar (as if it was ever in doubt) and they say it'll be an "evolution" of the rootin' tootin' multiplayer in the first Red Dead Redemption. In other words, a big online version of the open world in Red Dead Redemption 2, where you can trot about on your pony, buy fashionable spurs, and get shot by ingrates and outlaws with terrifying old west names such as XxAnime4LifexX and SackOfShit1999. That sounds super. But all this is academic to us. Because Reddy Deddy 2 still hasn't been confirmed for PC, and we are likely facing a bit of a wait.

Here's what Rockstar say about the online murderwest:

"Red Dead Online is an evolution of the classic multiplayer experience in the original Red Dead Redemption, blending narrative with competitive and cooperative gameplay in fun new ways. Using the gameplay of the upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2 as a foundation, Red Dead Online will be ready to be explored alone or with friends, and will also feature constant updates and adjustments to grow and evolve this experience for all players."

So it'll be a playground similar to GTA Online, included with the main game, but with horses instead of supercars. In an interview with IGN, two Rockstar bods, Imran Sarwar and Josh Needleman, spoke a little more about their Westworldlike and what kind of hi-jinks might be added to it in the long run.

"We feel Grand Theft Auto Online really only found its feet creatively with Heists," Needleman told Iggers. "That pack, along with After Hours, The Doomsday Heist, Gun Running and a few others represent the best of Grand Theft Auto Online, and provided the template for what we wanted to use here..."

Much of this is no surprise given that the original Red Dead Redemption featured a multiplayer mode that was basically a prototype for the chaotic Los Santos we all know and fear. In Red Dead Redempt1on, a small number of players could run around the vast countryside, starting co-op missions, taking pot shots at one another, or cautiously eyeballing each other as they passed by on quiet dusty roads. I liked it.

"As with most online experiences of this size and scale," says Rockstar, "there will inevitably be some turbulence at launch."

They're speaking about the launch of a beta on consoles in November, of course, which follows the release of the proper game on consoles in October. But I suppose you might expect similar "turbulence" if and when it comes to PC. A leak on LinkedIn suggests that the PC version is in the works. The Rockstar nerds have also enjoyed taunting us by putting a hidden Tomahawk in GTA Online. Anyway, it would certainly be stupid business decision not to make it. However, it was almost a year and a half until we got GTA V on PC, so we could be sitting around, chewing tarbac and idly spinning our spurs for some time.