Red Dead Online won’t get “major” updates as Rockstar shifts to the next mainline GTA game

Red Dead Online will no longer receive “major themed content updates” in part because Rockstar Games is pulling resources into the next Grand Theft Auto title, the studio said Thursday. Fans have wondered if Red Dead Online has been abandoned, and while the game isn’t being shut down, Rockstar won’t be making as much content for it moving forward.

“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,” Rockstar wrote in a blog post.

As for the future of Red Dead Online, “alongside seasonal special events and experience improvements — plus other changes to enhance and maintain a healthy Red Dead Online environment — we plan to build upon existing modes and add new Telegram Missions this year, rather than delivering major themed content updates like in previous years, and we will continue to highlight and share the creative efforts of our Red Dead community at every opportunity via the Newswire and beyond,” Rockstar said.

Ahead of Rockstar’s Thursday announcement, a Red Dead franchise fan account had been planning a funeral for Red Dead Online for July 13th, the one-year anniversary of the game’s most recent major content update. The funeral is still planned for next week.

Rockstar finally confirmed in February that it’s working on the next entry in the Grand Theft Auto series. The studio is also continuing to add content to GTA Online, and it detailed some of the updates in the works in its Thursday blog post.