Red Dead Online's next big update may expand the Bounty Hunter role
Not long to wait, they say
Red Dead Online went on a bit of a dry spell earlier this year before its Naturalist role was added this summer. Rockstar have now said players won't be waiting too long for another update. This time around they'll be focusing on an action-oriented update to a current role, which sure sounds like Bounty Hunting. With RDO's Halloween event still ongoing, it's good to hear Rockstar already talking about what's next.
In an interview with Gamestar, design director Scott Butchard alludes to the kind of things players can expect in the next wild west update. The interview is originally in German, so I'm leaning on Google's estimation of Butchard's comments, but it seems a relatively safe bet that Rockstar are planning some new Bounty Hunter content.
"The players won't have to wait too long for a more action-oriented update," Butchard says." In the coming patch, we'll be expanding an existing role, which will provide plenty of action-packed shootouts."
Speaking more generally about the the future of Red Dead Online's various roles, Butchard says (again, via Google Translate):
"We already have a number of different roles, each with a different focus on aspects of the world like bounty hunting, trading, discovery and the outdoors, each with their own charm and play options. The future of Red Dead Online is here revolve around the further development of these roles with meaningful play opportunities and possibly the introduction of further professions.
"You can definitely look forward to new shootouts and more of what the Wild West is all about. In addition, there is still a lot of potential as we allow players to immerse themselves even more in existing roles. We have an idea of the general direction of the game, and feedback from the community will continue to help us make decisions a lot in the future."
A combination of new roles and updates to existing ones certainly fits with what I'd expect out of Rockstar's plans for RDO. In particular, an update to the Bounty Hunter role, if that's what they're planning, will likely be welcome to anyone who found the Naturalist job underwhelming. I had an alright time with it, cataloging various creatures and bringing home the most special ones to turn into coats, but it is most often a slow and quiet job. Some more action and shootouts will be quite alright by me.
It's good to see Rockstar chatting about their plans for the game ahead of time. Before the Naturalist role was announced, fans were so antsy for any news from Rockstar that they began dressing as clowns in protest. RDO's Halloween Outlaw Pass was uncovered by dataminers ahead of time, but Rockstar didn't actually announce the thing until the day it went live. All that's to say they've not exactly set a precedent of showing their hand to fans, so even the sparsest comments about upcoming updates are quite welcome.
In the meantime, Red Dead Online's Halloween event is still ongoing until November 16th.