Rockstar’s ‘Red Dead Online’ Launch Spoiled By Server Problems, Gamers Freak
After months, or even years, of waiting, gamers finally got the announcement they’ve been waiting for on Monday: Red Dead Online is available this week. The multiplayer universe was supposed to open up to all users who purchased the early Ultimate Edition of the game on Tuesday.
But when Xbox One users logged into Red Dead Redemption 2 to load up the online world, they were greeted only with silence. For several hours on Tuesday, while the PlayStation 4 users enjoyed a massive online world set at the turn of the 20th century, Xbox One users were left with frustration and angst.
The servers were down for much of the day, and the online world did not become available for Xbox One players for approximately eight hours after it launched for PS4 players. This sparked an outcry on Twitter and Rockstar Support and resurrected the long-standing console wars between PS4 and Xbox One players.
Rumors flew that Rockstar intentionally allowed Xbox One players to wait while giving priority to PlayStation users.
The situation was made much worse by the fact that Rockstar didn’t offer live updates to anxious players, according to Daily Star.
“We are aware of an issue affecting Xbox One Ultimate Edition players not being able to access Red Dead Online. Please be patient as we investigate this issue,” Rockstar said via Twitter.
Do you want to be hated like EA ? Cus this is how you get hated #RedDeadOnline , what kind of prioritization is this towards ps4 , you cant tell me that unintentionally Xbox access isn’t available ? Come on @RockstarGames what is the point. No respect for people buying your game.
— Jesse Guillen (@BriiBus) November 27, 2018
The Red Dead Redemption 2 online beta is broken for all XBOX users. Sometimes I feel like the developers do this to fuel the console wars. I have the digital Ultimate Edition with the 5gb update installed. Waited up all night to be disappointed. Thanks @Xbox and @RockstarGames.??
— ???? ???????? (@Koosh604) November 27, 2018
The Xbox One servers, which it should be noted are not owned by Rockstar but go through a third party, are working for all users as of Tuesday evening. However, “Red Dead Online” currently is in Beta. This means that everything players do in the multiplayer world right now may be reset, according to Eurogamer.
“We hope that all player progress during this early period of the beta will be able to remain intact long term…however as with many betas for large scale online experiences such as this, there is always the chance that we may need to implement rank or other stat resets in case of issues,” Rockstar said in a previous statement.
The beta “may take several weeks or months,” according to Rockstar, while they continue to work out bugs and figure out how to bring the world of Red Dead Redemption 2 to life in a multiplayer environment.
“We are aiming to deliver a stable and fun experience while collecting as much crucial information and feedback as possible to help us continually improve Red Dead Online,” an official statement from Rockstar says.
Red Dead Online allows players to break away from main character Arthur Morgan and create a character of their own. Like RDR2, the actions you take in the online world affect whether you are “good” or “bad.”
