Late last week, Rockstar Games made a big and unfortunate announcement: Red Dead Redemption 2 was delayed once more, with an October 26 release date now scheduled. In order to soften the blow, the developers released some brand new screenshots with the announcement—but it appears as if the move has had some unintended consequences.
Trusted Reviews revealed today that, in August 2017, they received documents containing a trove of information and unreleased info about Red Dead Redemption 2. The publication originally kept the leaks from release, but as of last week’s announcement, “a great deal of the information in the documents has been validated in Red Dead Redemption 2 promotional materials.” All those who wish to avoid the leaks should hop off this wagon train now, because we’re going to take a look. (Note: no leaked visual content will appear below.)
The full breakdown of the leaks can be found here, and up first is the content that made the leaks finally appear genuine: screenshots of protagonist Arthur Morgan and the leader of his gang, Dutch van der Linde, were contained in the documents, and the images are nearly identical to the snapshots released last week. With the proof of authenticity out of the way, the article is absolutely packed with info.
Sure to grab the most headlines is the purported inclusion of a “Battle Royale” mode, which will likely serve as the centerpiece for the online multiplayer experience. As if GTA Online wasn’t enough of money printer, Rockstar will now be capitalizing on the PUBG and Fortnite craze, likely to some degree of success. The notes on the multiplayer don’t stop there, though. The other main modes mentioned are “Revive and Survive,” a sort of deathmatch with “a limited amount of time to revive your teammates before they are eliminated,” and “Money Grab,” a pseudo-Capture-the-Flag mode with two sides “fighting to procure bags of money in a central location” before taking them back to base.
Also included in the online open world will be spontaneous “Free Events” such as treasure hunts, tents to replace GTA Online‘s apartments, rewards for specific in-game achievements, improved NPC AI, activities like fishing and mining, and much, much more. A “companion app” is also allegedly in the pipeline, which will bring additional social features and a “poker minigame of sorts.”
On the single-player side, significant new features include new areas, vehicles, and a “Slums Market” that will sell equipment for a reduced, black-market price. “Dead Eye” returns from the original Red Dead Redemption, and can now be used to mark useful objectives and bounties for further tracking. “Side activities” like horsemanship and crafting are now available, as well as vaguely defined “Random Events” adapted from Grand Theft Auto V‘s Strangers and Freaks side missions. Finally, first-person will be available through all game modes, with “bespoke animations” for each.
With such a volume of information and screenshot corroboration that’s hard to argue with, these appear to be more than just your everyday leaks. There’s a high chance this information is accurate, and if it is, the wealth of new and ambitious features would certainly explain the long development period. Expect to know how true any of this is sometime between now and the game’s launch on October 26.