Rockstar recently revealed Red Dead Online, Red Dead Redemption 2’s multiplayer component, will launch in November 2018 (initially as a public beta). Considering the many questions we’ve had about the nature of Red Dead 2’s up-til-now mysterious online mode, we asked Imran Sarwar, Director of Design at Rockstar North, and Josh Needleman, Senior Producer at Rockstar San Diego, to go into a little more detail about Rockstar’s evolution in the realm of multiplayer.

The pair elaborated on what elements of GTA Online will appear in RDO and how it will differ, as well as why they aren’t launching it alongside the single-player mode and the lessons learned from GTA Online’s rocky start and subsequent success as an online game.

IGN: What can players expect from Red Dead Online? Will we have as much open-world freedom as we do in the single-player component?

Imran Sarwar: Of course. Red Dead Online will use the world and gameplay mechanics of Red Dead Redemption 2 as a jumping off point for a new world of cowboys (and cowgirls) and outlaws that combines multiplayer and cooperative gameplay and narrative components in a huge open world. Players will be able explore alone or easily join with friends or other players to compete or work together. We’ll take full advantage of the entire world, as well as all the aspects of a 19th century setting that make Red Dead Redemption 2 unique and fun.

IGN: What do you want players to get out of Red Dead Online? What ambitions does Rockstar have in terms of evolving their idea of online open worlds?

Josh Needleman: Red Dead Redemption’s multiplayer was a real leap forward for us at the time. It was the first game that hinted at the real opportunities for open world multiplayer beyond cities, where the world was open as a place to create your own freeform gameplay, while at the same time was as a sort of living lobby for other, more structured kinds of game modes. Red Dead Redemption 2 will take those ideas much further and combine that with everything we’ve learned in the years since then with our favorite elements from Grand Theft Auto Online about how to make really fun and complex competitive and cooperative experiences in open worlds, and how to introduce narrative elements into multiplayer.

IGN: Why aren't you releasing Red Dead Online alongside Red Dead Redemption 2’s single-player experience?

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Imran: There are a few reasons for this. The first is that even though Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online share the same gameplay mechanics and geography, we see them essentially as separate products that will grow and evolve independently of each other.

We love story-based, single-player games and they are the foundation of everything we do. Red Dead Redemption 2 is an absolutely massive story-based game that we hope people will be lost in for a long time and we want people to experience everything that world has to offer before we build on that with the Online experience. Not to mention, playing through the story and getting to know the controls and mechanics of the game is the best way to get ready for playing inside the world of Red Dead Online.

Also, as we have learned from experience when launching Online games at this scale, there are bound to be a few issues and we want to ensure that we have time to gradually roll out the game and make the experience as smooth as we possibly can for everyone. We believe this way of rolling out will give people the best overall experiences with both single player and multiplayer.

IGN: Aside from the obvious - the 21st-century setting/vehicles/tech/etc - how will this experience be different from Grand Theft Auto Online?

Josh: One of the biggest differences between GTA and Red Dead universes is that you’re often speeding through or flying over a GTA world, whereas in Red Dead Redemption the change of pace elevates the intimacy of the overall experience. Like the single player game’s story of Arthur Morgan, we want people to settle into their online characters and feel like every activity makes sense for the character, the setting and the time. This should feel intimate and personal while still feeling fun and action-packed from moment to moment.

We’ve tried to take the best elements and best content packs from Grand Theft Auto Online and use them for templates for what we are making here. We feel Grand Theft Auto Online really only found its feet creatively with Heists. That pack, along with After Hours, The Doomsday Heist, Gun Running and a few others represent the best of Grand Theft Auto Online, and provided the template for what we wanted to use here, (not in terms of content, obviously, but how they combined narrative, gameplay, modes and other content into a cohesive thematic whole) alongside all of the elements we liked from the old Red Dead Redemption multiplayer.

IGN: What have you and the rest of the team learned from your experiences launching /designing / updating / supporting Grand Theft Auto Online?

Josh: The biggest problem with the original Red Dead Redemption's multiplayer was that every update we released fractured the audience. As the game got bigger, we separated our player base. Avoiding this was the inspiration behind Grand Theft Auto Online – we are obsessed by keeping the audience complete and experience beyond perpetual. Beyond this, after lots of trial and error (!!!), we feel we have found a way to make multiplayer games that feel like Rockstar experiences, combining personality, gameplay, style, narrative and variety into the packs. That did not really begin to happen until we released the first Heists pack. Our aim this time is to hopefully get there a bit more quicker, but still be responsive to what people enjoy playing and evolve as we go.

IGN: What happens to Grand Theft Auto Online after Red Dead Online launches?

Imran: We still have big plans for Grand Theft Auto Online and we will continue to roll out updates for the foreseeable future. We vaguely plan to stagger the updates of both games so that players can switch between the two, but our development plans may not always allow this! We think there will be a lot to love about Red Dead Online for fans of Grand Theft Auto Online, but we think that Red Dead Online will generate its own audience ready for something entirely new – however, exactly what form Red Dead Online will take as it finds it’s feet, we are not sure ourselves, but we think really want a focus on role-playing and morality. That may all change as the game comes out, but that’s the direction we are heading in now! And we are going to be working together on that with our incredible community to make this online experience into something amazing.

You can see the official announcement from Rockstar here, and check out everything we learned about the mechanics of Red Dead Online from its Ultimate Edition pre-order bonuses.

JR is an editor at IGN who really hopes that we see jetpacks on horses someday. You can usually find him spouting such nonsense on Twitter.

Rockstar has not officially revealed any details about Red Dead Redemption 2’s gameplay or story, but according to a new leak, there’s a lot there fans will be excited about.

Red Dead Redemption 2 was recently delayed to October, and Rockstar only left fans with only a few new screenshots to look at. We’ve yet to have a proper gameplay trailer, or really a breakdown of what to expect come launch.

According to information received by Trusted Reviews, the game’s protagonist seen in the trailer is Arthur Morgan, and the other big character is Dutch Van Der Linde, the leader of the gang.

The single-player will offer complete freedom in exploring the open world, which includes Armadillo and Ridgewood. Cities will be buzzing with NPCs, and there’s going to be a Slums Market where equipment is sold at reduced prices. You’ll be able to use trains to travel from certain parts of the map, and the trains themselves will act as mini-cities with unique characters and dialogue.

Other vehicles in the game include horse-drawn carriages, minecarts, and handcarts with each coming in different variants that favour speed over armour or vice versa.

Some of the side activities include playing poker, horsemanship challenges that increase your rider rank, and a deep fishing system with different baits and fish types. Red Dead Redemption 2 will feature a crafting system where you can use plants and other herbs to create various concoctions.

First-person mode, first introduced with GTA 5’s release on PS4, and Xbox One, will make a return in Red Dead Redemption 2. You’ll be able to use it in single-player, and multiplayer, and Dead Eye is also said to be returning. Other similarities to GTA 5 include a version of the game’s Strangers and Freaks missions, which consist of random events that’ll lead you down bizarre quests.

The story will branch out in different ways depending on your actions and the characters you interact with, and this will also affect the dialogue and even mission objectives. One interesting mechanic mentioned is the ability to extract information from wounded enemies in exchange for sparing their life.

Red Dead Redemption 2 Online

The rumour also has a decent chunk of information about the online mode in Red Dead Redemption 2. Like GTA Online, the same open-world will be available to explore in multiplayer, but the details mention a deeper more reactive world.

The example given is that NPCs will decorate storefronts in the morning and pack everything up in the evening. Player apartments will return in the form of tents which can be bought and upgraded. Like GTA Online, completing various tasks will earn you XP, and many of the shops and NPCs in the world will offer missions/equipment.

The playlist format is returning, and the memo mentions three game modes in Battle Royale, Revive and Survive, and Money Grab. It only details the latter two, and the site is not sure how this iteration of Battle Royale is going to work within the Red Dead sandbox.

Revive and Survive is a deathmatch where two teams go against one another. You can revive fallen teammates but you only have a limited window to do so. Money Grab tasks players with securing bags of cash and returning them to base as quickly as possible.

Finally, the memo says that Red Dead Redemption 2 will launch alongside a companion app that includes “social elements” and a poker minigame.

The site says it received the information in August last year, but couldn’t corroborate the details until now. Still, this is based on screenshots of the main heroes from different angles, and may not necessarily mean the rest of the details are accurate.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is out October 26 on PS4, and Xbox One.