For a while, Red Dead Online was an ideal place to hang your hat. A preserved bug meant that the western game’s lobbies were next to empty. It was a small glitch that came with big benefits. Players were being griefed by strangers or hackers less, and legendary animal spawns improved alongside free-roam events. You also could take a chill stroll and enjoy the vistas without being turned into a stick of dynamite. Bliss.
Since a Red Dead Online update hit PC yesterday, though, players have taken to Twitter and Reddit to report that their lobbies are filling up again. Some have reported the odd disconnection, whereas others say event spawn rates are alright despite there being more people around. Other players do say that they’re still getting smaller lobbies, but a fair few of them seem to be on console.
Red Dead Online players have been asking for the private lobbies that people who play GTA Online enjoy for some time. Since Red Dead Redemption 2 came to PC last year, there have been multiple run-ins with cheaters. People have been banned for opening treasure chests spawned by hackers, chased around by griefers posing as the KKK, and streamers have been impersonated and knocked offline.
You can see why, then, players enjoyed the small lobbies for the brief time they were here. It’s the closest players have got to private lobbies.
Hopefully, the visible enjoyment players have gotten from these quieter spaces will stir Rockstar into adding them if it doesn’t already have them planned. We do know that the developer has another Red Dead Online update up its sleeve that should drop before March, so who knows how far away they could be.