Is Red Dead Redemption 2 the beginning of a single-player renaissance or the end of an era?

Months after it came out and wowed everyone, Red Dead Redemption 2 is on the precipice of either becoming the next GTA Online or a title that signals the end of single-player Rockstar.

And no one really knows which way it is going to go.

To be sure, there is tons of stuff to do in RDR 2 in the single-player mode. In fact, most players will find more than enough things with which to entertain themselves.

That doesn’t stop some fans from craving DLC, and their numbers are growing – especially after the lacklustre online mode’s debut.

While Red Dead Online might take some time to take off, these initial months haven’t revealed a very compelling game and that’s worrying to both fans of Rockstar and probably Rockstar itself.

GTA Online took some time to get its water wings and it has since gone on to become the largest media property ever. Released in 2013 for the then PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, the fact that GTA V is still such a titan is a testament to the dev’s ability to make a good game and the online mode’s agile, adaptive development mindset.

Players tired of game-as-a-platform model

Many people wouldn’t blame Rockstar for taking a risk with Red Dead Online. If it does half as well as GTA Online, they could have a ton of cash on their hands in the future.

Why all of this is concerning is because so many gamers are getting sick of the game-as-a-platform model and the persistent milking of wallets everywhere for nonsensical things.

Long gone are the days of receiving a complete experience for a payment upfront and here to stay are the days of drip-fed updates and mindless, endless microtransactions.

If there is any single company out there that could help buck this trend, it is Rockstar and Red Dead Redemption 2 seemed like the game to do it.

Swan song or fight song?

But now that it is looking like the online mode will get all of Rockstar’s attention, could this truly be the end of the single-player experience? Is Red Dead Redemption 2 more of a swan song than a fight song after all?

Of course, the answer depends on who you ask. It isn’t that Red Dead Online isn’t fun, it’s just that many people can’t see a future in it quite like that enjoyed by GTA Online.

Money being the end of all things these days – particularly for a publicly traded company like Take-Two Interactive (Rockstar’s parent corp) – we have no doubt that the pressure to get more and more revenue out of their games will continue.

We just hope that video games don’t suffer in the process. Lower quality, rushed, nagging, and ill-conceived titles won’t solve a publisher’s monetary woes as Fallout 76 has illustrated.

Here’s to hoping that Red Dead Redemption 2 is the beginning of a single-player renaissance, and not the end of an era in gaming.