Rob Nelson Once Upon A Time In The North

THE ADVENTURE CONTINUES IN RED DEAD REDEMPTION II’S MULTIPLAYER, RED DEAD ONLINE, AND WE’RE LOVING EVERY MINUTE OF IT. OXM SPOKE TO ROB NELSON, CO-STUDIO HEAD OF ROCKSTAR NORTH, ABOUT BUILDING AND MAINTAINING A LITERAL ONLINE WILD WEST

- Chris Burke

Having blown our minds with the sheer size, scope and attention to detail in Red Dead Redemption ii’s world, it turns out that Rockstar was only just getting started. that huge western sandbox was opened up to multiplayer, first for beta testing, in late November 2018, when we were let loose to saddle up, shoot it out, hunt, fish and hogtie folk to railway tracks. as the phenomenally successful GTA online is to gtaV, so Red Dead online is Redemption’s continuing story, one in which you (and your personalised avatar) make your own way, out West. more accurately, it’s actually set a little bit before the events of the story mode, allowing some of that game’s more memorable characters to appear as mission-givers.

The game, and its dedicated playerbase, continues to grow, as both PvP and Pve elements are continually updated with everything from new versus modes to story missions; free Roam events to new guns, gear and outfits, all helping keep things as fresh as the salmon-filled mountain rapids. as the game expands and evolves, Rockstar is listening to fan requests and ever-inventively striving to feed our obvious need to roleplay as desperados, bounty hunters and stylish wearers of wide-brimmed hats.

We spoke to Rob nelson, co-studio head at Rockstar north, the Edinburgh-based studio helping to keep that wonderful world alive, about the challenges of making such a huge online game, keeping us cowboys and cowgirls saddling up, as well as all the exciting new content that’s coming down the trail. Yippie-kay-yay!

Roughly when did the planning for Red Dead online begin, and to what extent was the world built with online in mind?