There was a semi-recent trend where gamers tweeted #SaveRedDeadOnline to show their support for Red Dead Online.
The discrepancy between GTA Online and Red Dead Online is oceans apart when it comes to notable updates. The former game is often seen as Rockstar Games' cash cow, receiving all of the attention and focus. In comparison, the latter game seems like an afterthought.
This is especially unfortunate given how well-received Red Dead Redemption 2 was. Some players thought that Red Dead Online would be a great counterpart to GTA Online, but that has yet to happen.
#SaveRedDeadOnline represents a movement by some Rockstar fans to keep Red Dead Online alive
Rob Nelson from Rockstar North once said:
"It took over a year for GTA Online to truly become the game it is today, and while we don't intend to take that long with Red Dead Online, we are only just getting started! We're excited about where the game goes from here, but we are still at the beginning. The future is full of surprises…"
This was an old quote from several years ago, but it doesn't seem like today's fans are as optimistic. The above tweet might seem simple at first glance, but it makes more sense when players look at other examples.
The beauty of Red Dead Online
Red Dead is beautiful, and there are aspects where it significantly outperforms its GTA counterpart (men's beards being a prominent example). Abandoning a game like this hurts its fanbase, as online multiplayer games largely depend on active updates to maintain their playerbase.
Many fans perceive the game's lack of updates as the game being "abandoned," which inevitably leads to many Red Dead fans being unhappy.
Naturally, any discussion involving #SaveRedDeadOnline tends to bring up GTA Online as a topic. These two tweets are perfect examples of various different conversation starters, and they're all about Red Dead's current state.
The "8-year-old cash cow" in the first tweet obviously refers to GTA Online. It's a divisive game that's still incredibly popular, but some fans still feel that it may have overstayed its welcome.
Of course, not everything about #SaveRedDeadOnline is about GTA Online. In some cases, it's about a game that fans love and their desire to continue playing it.
Rockstar's response
Rockstar Games never responded to the #SaveRedDeadOnline tweets (at least, not by January 13, 2022). It's not surprising to many fans, but one has to wonder why there aren't any Newswire posts about GTA Online's current week of updates.
It's a popular trend, but it's not something that Rockstar Games has publicly commented on yet.
Unsurprisingly, several tweets mocked Rockstar Games for their lack of response. Some users also urge others to keep the hashtag #SaveRedDeadOnline alive, especially since it's been trending for nearly a week.
Red Dead Online is a game with great potential, and fans want Rockstar Games to focus on more than just GTA Online.