Red Dead 2 Online Update Adds Map Changes, Daily Missions Later This Month

Red Dead Redemption 2's Online mode may still be in beta, but that hasn't stopped developer Rockstar from updating it with new features. On February 26, more new features will come to Red Dead Online on PS4 and Xbox One, including a new law and bounty system, changes to the mini-map and weapons, and more.

The law and bounty system works similarly to the campaign's equivalent. Essentially, committing serious crimes such as killing other players incur a high bounty and reduce your honor, while minor crimes will reduce your honor only. If your bounty reaches a certain threshold, you will be wanted dead and NPC bounty hunters will attempt to kill you.

Committing dishonorable deeds will also make you stand out to other players. In a set of sweeping changes to the mini-map, players who frequently grief other players--by killing them or their horses outside of a structured mode, free roam mission, event, or competition, for example--will be highlighted to other players by a progressively darkening dot. Blue dots indicate a more honorable player, while redder dots signify a player who has committed more crimes, especially in a short space of time.

Additionally, the visibility of all player dots is to be reduced over long distances. "Your map position won't display to other players unless you are nearby (within 150 meters) and if you are slightly further away you will only appear when firing your weapon," says Rockstar. "Players in other towns or regions, for example, won't be visible. This prevents players from being repeatedly targeted across the map at long distances." Rockstar goes on to say the changes are designed "to minimize certain types of destructive player behavior."

Daily Challenges are also coming in the update, affording players the opportunities to complete tasks--such as foraging for herbs, hunting and skinning animals, clearing hideouts, or winning Feuds--for the rewards of gold nuggets and XP. For more on the update, check out the full list of changes on Rockstar's blog.

Red Dead Online's beta didn't begin until November, though the base game launched in October to critical acclaim. "While Red Dead Redemption was mostly focused on John Marston's story, Red Dead 2 is about the entire Van der Linde gang--as a community, as an idea, and as the death rattle of the Wild West," wrote Kallie Plagge in our Red Dead Redemption 2 review. "It is about Arthur, too, but as the lens through which you view the gang, his very personal, very messy story supports a larger tale. Some frustrating systems and a predictable mission structure end up serving that story well, though it does take patience to get through them and understand why. Red Dead Redemption 2 is an excellent prequel, but it's also an emotional, thought-provoking story in its own right, and it's a world that is hard to leave when it's done."