Well, that didn’t take very long. Just a few days after Red Dead Redemption 2 and its multiplayer component Red Dead Online released on PC, Rockstar has already begun banning players who modded the latter version — people who could have received an unfair advantage against others.
According to RDR2.org, those who violate the terms of service for Red Dead Online, which includes modding that part of the game, can receive suspensions or outright bans on their accounts. All progress and inventory in their game will also be reset if they are eventually allowed to return, presumably to offset any momentary advantages they had while playing a modded game.
It’s worth noting, however, that you are only at risk of being banned if you are planning a modded version of Red Dead Online. The main Red Dead Redemption game is not subject to this, as players do not interact with each other during the story mode. In fact, modders have already started to change the game since its PC launch, including a version of Arthur Morgan made to look like the Joker, and game files that skip the very slow introductory chapter.
The aversion to modding in online games is nothing new, but Rockstar’s parent company Take-Two Interactive has considerable money at stake if players are not playing their online games as designed. The publisher’s Grand Theft Auto V is the most profitable media product in history, and a large part of its current revenue stream is from microtransactions rather than game sales. It’s likely why we have been waiting six years for a new game in the series, but Grand Theft Auto V has still managed to be in the top 10 bestselling games of the month consistently.
In addition to apparent trouble with online modders, Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC has also been running poorly on many players’ systems. Rockstar was forced to apologize for continued stuttering issues that appear to be tied to processor configurations, and the game was also crashing the entire Rockstar Games Launcher for certain users. It will not be available on Steam until December, at which point any issues related to this should be fixed.
