Red Dead Redemption 2 Just Made Its Battle Royale So Much Better

Back in November, Rockstar launched a beta test for Red Dead Online, the online component of Red Dead Redemption 2. That beta has been chugging along ever since as Rockstar continues to tweak it, but now it's received one of the biggest updates yet. Rockstar has updated Red Dead Online to include a new battle royale mode called Gun Rush, which is live now in solo and team variants.

Though Rockstar's description of Gun Rush is fairly brief, it says enough to know that this isn't quite like other battle royales we encountered throughout 2018. For starters, it only supports up to 32 players, regardless of if you're playing free-for-all or teams, which is quite a bit lower than the 100-player skirmishes many other battle royale games offer.

Then there's also the wild west angle, which is something we haven't really seen in the battle royale genre. You'll still be trying to gather weapons as quickly as you can, and your battle to be the last player standing will take place on a map with a shrinking play area, so in that sense, this is the battle royale we're used to.

Red Dead Online launched with a battle royale mode called Make it Count, but it was fairly limited in scope, as it restricted players to just bows and throwing knives. Gun Rush is definitely more like a traditional battle royale mode in that regard, as you'll actually have the chance to use weapons that fire bullets. So, if you struggle using a bow and arrow in RDR 2 like I do, you can take heart, because it sounds like this is the mode for you.

In a blog post announcing Gun Rush, Rockstar reveals that it will be adding new Races and Showdown modes soon, along with daily challenges and various changes that will tweak the game's law, bounty, and parley systems. We'll also see new missions, events, and weapons added throughout the year, so it sounds like there's a lot planned for Red Dead Online on the way to full release.