Red Dead Redemption 2 Officially Adds Battle Royale Mode

The Wild West of Red Dead Online is about to get a bit more competitive as Rockstar Games announces the arrival of Gun Rush, a new mode that pits 32 players against each other in a round of battle royale.

While Red Dead Online already had a mode that was kinda-sorta a battle royale showdown, Gun Rush implements several of the popular mode's standard features and makes the whole thing official. As noted above, Gun Rush will host 32 players either rolling solo or in a team, and the objective of the mode is to be the last hombre standing. Just like in Fortnite or PUBG, players will hit the map lacking any sort of equipment and have to scour the landscape for weapons and ammo. The map will also shrink over time, pushing remaining players closer and closer together.

It seems like every game on the planet is getting a battle royale mode these days, so it makes sense that Rockstar would want to jump on that particular bandwagon nice and early with Red Dead Online.

The update containing Gun Rush is live now, so feel free to drop into a round, see what you think and report back here in the comments below. Or, decidedly more helpful, feel free to share your thoughts with Rockstar directly. Red Dead Online is still in its infancy and the developer is on the lookout for plenty of feedback. One of the major complaints leveled against the mode so far is that there isn't a heck of a lot to keep players busy, but Rockstar argues that's because they plan to spend the next several months rolling out additional content, modes and ways to keep players occupied. That was a bit of a gamble, but also probably smart considering how many moving pieces they're talking about cramming into an online world.

Speaking of changes spurred on by player feedback, today's announcement from Rockstar includes a road map of what to expect in the not-too-distant future, including new races and Showdown modes, as well as clothing and emotes. Here's a rundown of some of the other changes the team hopes to introduce to Red Dead Online soon, according to their email.

Daily Challenges: Tackle new challenges each day covering every aspect of the game, from sharpshooting to evading the law.

Law and Bounty Upgrades: Some changes are coming to the way the Law and Bounty systems work in Red Dead Online to reduce the enticements for griefing. Soon, players will get a bounty for committing crimes and will be incentivized to pay them off within an allotted time. Wait too long and bounty hunters from each of the states will track the player forcing them to either pay up or escape.

Parley Changes: We're making the Parley system easier to trigger so that you can avoid aggressive players more quickly. In addition, it will be easier to trigger Feuds, Posse Feuds and Leader Feuds to take on attacking players in structured competition.

Proximity-Based Player Blips: Player location blips will soon appear only over short distances, reducing the range at which you are visible to others, decreasing the likelihood of being targeted by another player across large areas. Down the line, we're also looking to introduce the ability to identify players who grief and kill indiscriminately with a progressively darkening blip that becomes more visible and at a longer range, so everyone in a session can identify potentially dangerous opponents at a glance and from a safe distance.

And according to Rockstar, that's just the tip of the ice berg for planned additions to Red Dead Redemption II's online mode. New story missions are in the works, which would be super swell considering the fact that the mode is currently limited to about eight. A "range of dynamic events" is also being planned, meaning players will more regularly stumble upon events they can take part in while riding the trails. Additional weapons are also planned to be introduced, which should help keep encounters more varied.