Red Dead Online Halloween Pass Gets Butchered By Fans

At this point, it's probably best to take Red Dead Online out back and put it out of its mystery with a double-barrelled shotgun. If the Western Old Yeller has taught us anything, it's that you wouldn't let a sick dog continue like this, so why is Rockstar watching RDO limp to the grave?

We've already covered the desecration of the once-beloved cowboy caper, and while Grand Theft Auto Online continues to be the goose that laid the golden egg, Rockstar has confirmed it won't deliver any more major updates to Red Dead Online. As Halloween rolls again, there is a spooky update to RDO, but trust us, you won't like it. 

What Is The Red Dead Online Halloween Update?

In a ballsy blog post, Rockstar has been hyping its Red Dead Halloween update. The developer is promoting a month of spooky goings, with a new Hardcore Telegram Mission dropping on October 18. Ike Skelding has uncovered a cult "performing a sacrilegious rite to call forth the dead." If you complete this or any of Skledning's other Hardcore Telegram Missions and you'll get triple Gold, RDO$, and XP until October 31.

Elsewhere, the team has the cojones to champion the Halloween Pass. The problem is, it's the same Halloween Pass 2 from 2021. Even though it's good news for anyone who didn't reach the top last year, for the rest of us, it's a middle finger. Perhaps the only benefit is that those who didn't quite get there in 2021, your progress will pick up where you left off. As the likes of PUBG start to roll out their haunting Halloween updates, RDO is dead and buried.

Remembering that the original Halloween Pass From 2020 was branded "disappointing by many, we thought the team had learned with last year's pass. Sadly, there's nothing new to lure us back here. We know you're busy working on GTA 6, but this screams lazy. Would it have been that hard to put a cowboy-themed Jason Voorhees on the map? After all, Call of Duty: Warzone had Leatherface from The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. and Jigsaw from Saw.

Is Red Dead Online Really Dead?

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Responding to the Halloween Pass 2 making its unwelcome return, there was a shambling horde of flesh-hungry gamers ready to rip Rockstar to pieces. No wonder it locked the comments on its announcement tweet. As one former fan put it, "I really don’t understand why Rockstar hasn't updated Red Dead Online with a fresh Halloween Pass. Rehashing old content is only useful for newer players. The game's management and support for this last year has been absolutely appalling and disappointing."

Another raged, "Wow so generous of Rockstar to re-release Halloween Pass 2, so that despite them adding no new content players can still support them by buying gold." It's a bit of a ghost town out there these days. After the last big update came with July 2021's Blood Money, Rockstar confirmed it was winding down development earlier this year. For those holding out hope, a July 2022 development update confirmed the end is nigh and even put a sneaky "thank you" message in the Red Dead Redemption 2 credits. We'd say it's been a good run, but to be honest, we'd be lying.