'Red Dead Redemption 2' online game set to launch beta on Tuesday

Rockstar Games is bringing more fun to its Wild West game "Red Dead Redemption 2."

The game developer will begin letting players into its "Red Dead Online" multiplayer expansion of the game beginning Tuesday.

This beta version of the online game, which will be free for anyone who owns "Red Dead Redemption 2" for PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, will let players create their own player and explore the enormous world of the game alone or with others.

"With the gameplay of 'Red Dead Redemption 2' as its foundation, 'Red Dead Online' transforms the vast and deeply detailed landscapes, cities, towns and habitats of 'Red Dead Redemption 2' into a new, living online world ready to be shared by multiple players," the developer said in an online post Monday. "Create and customize your character, tailor your abilities to suit your play style and head out into a new frontier full of things to experience."

The first players who will gain access to the "Red Dead Online" beta on Tuesday are those who bought the "Red Dead Redemption 2: Ultimate Edition" using a code included in the packaging.

Then on Wednesday, all players who played "Red Dead Redemption 2" on Oct. 26 gain access. The next day, access is granted to all who played the game between Oct. 26-29. On Friday, anyone who owns the game is scheduled to get in.

Players will see an option to select "Online" from the title menu when they boot up the game.

"Red Dead Redemption 2" has been an unqualified hit for Rockstar Games, which is perhaps best known for its "Grand Theft Auto" series. "Red Dead" raked in $725 million in sales worldwide in its first three days, a tally second only to Rockstar's "Grand Theft Auto V," the biggest seller of all time, which took in $1 billion in its first three days when it launched on Sept. 17, 2013.

An online expansion could mean "Red Dead Redemption 2" will trot into the future for years to come. Rockstar continues to provide new experiences to its "Grand Theft Auto Online," an online multiplayer expansion of "GTA V" now going on 5 years old.

Among the experiences Rockstar promises in "Red Dead Online," according to its online post: "Explore the world solo or with friends. Form or join a Posse to ride with up to seven players; gather around the fire at your Camp; head out hunting or fishing; visit bustling towns; battle enemy gangs and attack their hideouts; hunt for treasure; take on missions and interact with familiar characters from across the five states; or fight against other outlaws in both spontaneous skirmishes and pitched set-piece battles; compete with other players or whole Posses in open world challenges and much more."

(c)2018 USA Today
Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.