While Red Dead Online‘s Naturalist update is a more relaxed affair, it looks like Rockstar Games is going in the opposite direction with the next expansion. Speaking to GameStar, design director Scott Butchard explains that players won’t have long to wait for a more action-oriented update. He further explains that an existing role will be expanded and that it should provide plenty of opportunities for action-packed shootouts that strike what the Wild West is all about.
The interview is in German, but running it through Google Translate reveals a few more details about what’s next for Red Dead Online. Butchard goes on to explain that there are plenty of opportunities to expand upon other existing roles in the future, too. He also says that Rockstar has a general direction for the online mode that’s shaped by community feedback.
While Butchard only offers a hint of what’s to come, plenty in the community are excited. Recently a few players managed to datamine 12 icons that include map blips for gunslinger and outlaw missions. While that could point to an augmentation of the bounty hunter role, it’s worth remembering that cut content does turn up in the western game’s files from time to time.
We don’t know when Red Dead Online’s next update will arrive just yet, but Take-Two president Karl Slatoff did mention in an investor call that it would be before the end of the fiscal year.
That could mean it’s as far away as June, but we did get the Moonshiners update in December of last year, so who knows. The impact of COVID-19 on development is something else to factor in, however.
If you’re looking for things to do in the meantime, then Red Dead Online’s Halloween Pass should still be kicking about for a bit. The open-world game also has a bouncing roleplaying scene, so why not get into the outlaw spirit ahead of time?