Red Dead Redemption 2 Multiplayer: When Will We See It & What Will It Be?

A new Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer has dropped, and while it doesn't tell us much about how the game will play, it seems like a good time to talk about what directions multiplayer will take in the game, based on what we've seen in the past.

A new trailer has dropped for Red Dead Redemption 2. The third so far, this one follows the trend of the first two trailers in showing off mostly cinematics with some interesting story points. Unfortunately, we’re still being left in the dark about how Red Dead Redemption 2’s gameplay will handle in comparison to the first one and, moreover, what it’s multiplayer will be like. Given the success Grand Theft Auto V’s online mode, dubbed GTA Online, multiplayer could have been considered a forgone conclusion, and Rockstar and Take Two have confirmed in the past that it’s definitely coming, but what will multiplayer in Red Dead Redemption 2 look like? Well, we most certainly have some ideas (or perhaps desires) based on what we’ve seen and what we know. You can see today’s trailer below with the new scenes regardless.

What Multiplayer Modes Came Before

Multiplayer in the first Red Dead Redemption was an interesting endeavor. There were modes featuring the standard fare of shooting games, like deathmatch, team deathmatch and the like, but the meat and potatoes of the game lay in a free roam mode in which players took up an outlaw avatar in a multiplayer version of the single player map. Players could travel the open world, engage in PvE crime to draw the ire of marshals and other players looking to collect a growing bounty on your head. They could also attack set gang hide-outs either alone or with friends. Just as well, players could also hunt down other players or team up to form posses and terrorize their open-world play session.

There was something crazy and refreshing in the original Red Dead about getting your posse together and surviving (or terrorizing) the wild west together.

My friends and I enjoyed getting together and battling against anyone who would dare to fight against us as we tried to rack up the highest bounties possible. Even more interesting was the level system that allowed for more styles of horse and other such mounts to ride through the dusty wilderness. Many Red Dead Redemption fans have memories of the grind to the legendary Zebra Donkey. All these things made for an entertaining game well after you were done with the single player story. It was an amazing social experiment and the elements therein laid the foundation for what the multiplayer experience would become in Grand Theft Auto online.

The GTA Online extension of Grand Theft Auto V has been a wholly robust and active community since its release, allowing players to explore busy worlds and build criminal empires within them along with friends. With Rockstar and Take Two adding constant content to the game, new challenges, and greater goals (such as yachts and golden private jets), alongside a robust modding community, GTA Online has become an online game that keeps on giving.

Where We Are Now…

That leads us up to Red Dead Redemption 2. Of course, Rockstar has made it clear that a big spotlight is on single player, but given the success of its predecessors, what might we see in this new game? Will it be similar to the style of the original Red Dead Redemption? Will it be more like GTA Online and all the lessons learned of it with a western flavor?

We asked folks over on the Red Dead Redemption Subreddit, a few of which posted what they wanted to see. Users ProbablyFear and Ayedeas offered that they hope it will be a hybrid of GTA and original Red Dead styles, though Ayedeas expanded to say he hopes Rockstar improves upon themselves thoughtfully as they often do.

“Rockstar likes to one-up themselves and the game is so different already from GTA that to expect it to be the same would be ignorant,” Ayedeas explained. “I fully expect Rockstar to give us something new, interesting, and fun in the Multiplayer mode. What I’m hoping for is the single-player of Red Dead Redemption in this Multiplayer, but better. I want to be able to play horseshoes and blackjack and all the other game modes and mini games that were cut from Online.”

Many will agree that while you may not be bumping off companies with fully automatic weapons, Red Dead Redemption 2 Multiplayer needs the heists that became such a high point of GTA Online.

Indeed, while freeplay in the original Red Dead allowed for a lot of things, but mini-games like Blackjack, (sanctioned) fist fights, and other little modes didn’t make the cut. It would be great to see much of the presumed activity in single player remain intact for online play. We certainly don’t mind a friendly game of cards now and then between shoot-outs.

One thing is for sure. Everyone who enjoys GTA Online probably wants to see heists make an appearance in Red Dead Redemption 2. Putting together a robbery with the squad is a big part of what has made the game fun. The original Red Dead Redemption had its fair share of gang hideout raids and PvE opportunities, but given how much people clamored and clung to the heists in GTA Online, it seems like it would almost be a disastrous waste to not allow us the chance to gather up with our friends and plan a big score on the local bank or other establishments full of money.

Battle Royale Speculation

Of course, one trend that can’t be denied is that of the Battle Royale. Games like Fortnite and PLAYERUNKNOWN’s Battlegrounds have dominated the landscape since their arrival and other companies have looked at certain ways to follow suit. The thing about Red Dead Redemption and GTA Online is that their free roaming modes almost already featured free-for-all, fight-collect-and-survive mechanics. It doesn’t seem like it would be a far stretch for Rockstar to go that route if they wanted to.

With such a traditionally varied wilderness to freeroam and survive in the past, Red Dead Redemption seems like a series built to easily accept Battle Royale into its fold if Rockstar chooses to do so.

If that were to happen, it might even be interesting for impromptu matches to break out when the game recognizes that a given set of people are in an area and fighting one another. Maybe a bonus would be available if you make it out of the zone with your money and your life, or you could collect a massive bounty if you manage to survive the scuffle. Rockstar may choose to avoid the trend and not follow the pack altogether, but that doesn’t mean they have to dodge it entirely. They’ve shown they’re willing to play with conventional ideas like deathmatch, team deathmatch, and free-for-all modes in the past.

It’s worth remembering that Fortnite didn’t even start as that type of game, but when Battle Royale came to it, it spread like a prairie fire. It will be interesting to see if Rockstar takes a chance and follows the flow to put a similar activity together in their own game’s online experience.

Of course, all of this is all guesswork based on what we’re seeing today and what we’ve seen in the past. For all we know, Red Dead Redemption 2 could come out of the gate with something altogether different as they did when they launched the online play of the first game. That said, whatever they choose to do, there’s only one thing would be unacceptable to forget. We have got to have that Zonkey. Give it to us, Rockstar.

While we wait to see what Red Dead Redemption 2 brings, it’s worth looking at the effect GTA Online has had on the gaming landscape, including how GTA became the most profitable entertainment franchise in history.

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