Red Dead 2 Online Beta Update: Get Free Gold Bars And Money, Other Changes

The launch of Red Dead Redemption 2's online multiplayer mode, Red Dead Online, quickly resulted in complaints about how the in-game economy works. Rockstar was quick to acknowledge that feedback and it's now outlined the first wave of changes it's implementing--including a free gift of money and gold bars for players.

Although real-money microtransactions are not yet available, progression felt both slow and confusing out of the gate, with the relative value of different items making little sense. With a new update, Rockstar says, "Today we are starting to implement the first set of adjustments to the game including changes specifically geared towards creating a more balanced, fun and rewarding overall experience, across all modes and missions."

It's tackling this in a variety of ways. That includes increasing how much money and gold you earn from various activities, reducing the price of "most" weapons, and adjusting the value of certain items. Regarding the price reduction of weapons, that may sound like frustrating news for those who have done the grinding needed to buy them, but Rockstar will offer refunds to compensate for the difference. Those refunds should begin arriving today but may take until December 10 to be deposited.

"Of course our efforts to improve and balance the Red Dead Online Beta will continue," Rockstar said. "We are conscious of and still evaluating an assortment of further adjustments based on feedback from the community. We are currently working on fixes for some persistent bugs that are causing some players to be kicked from sessions, and we aim to have fixes for these live next week. We will also continue to review all the feedback and suggestions so please keep them coming to reddeadonline.com/feedback."

Alongside the changes outlined above, Rockstar will offer an apology of sorts with a free gift to everyone who has logged into Red Dead Online between launch and tonight, December 6, at midnight PT (3 AM ET / 8 AM GMT / 7 PM AET on Friday, December 7). If you're eligible, you'll receive $250 of in-game cash and 15 gold bars. This will be available to some players today, and everyone who qualifies should have their freebies by December 14.

Red Dead Online is currently in beta, and Rockstar warned ahead of its launch to expect things to not go entirely smoothly--and we've found the experience to be lacking so far. There was some indication that progress could be wiped, but as of now, Rockstar doesn't have plans to do so. For more on what to expect in the new update, read the patch notes below.

Red Dead Online Week 1 Update Patch Notes

• Increasing the cash and gold payments across a number of different activities including Free Roam Missions, Free Roam Events, replays of A Land of Opportunities Missions, Showdown Series modes and more.
• Reducing the prices of most weapons in the Wheeler, Rawson & Co Catalogue and Gunsmiths. For players that have already purchased weapons at the previous prices, we will automatically deposit the difference to player balances starting today - please look for an alert message the next time you log in to the Red Dead Online Beta to notify you of this change, refunds may take up until Monday, December 10th to reach all eligible players.
• Balancing the values of select pelts, skins and fish as well as horse reviver and pamphlets.