Red Dead Redemption 2 files show what Red Dead Online could have been

pcgamesn.com:

Red Dead Redemption 2 game files reveal content that has either been cut or so far unreleased for Red Dead Online, as Rockstar appears to bid farewell to the online, multiplayer sandbox as it moves full production to GTA 6.

Red Dead Online was updated on September 6 with new telegram missions and a variety of bug fixes. This update, however – considerably less substantial than RDO’s most recent DLC pack, Blood Money, from July 2021 – also added a new in-game credits message, thanking everyone “who has helped create Red Dead Redemption 2 and Red Dead Online”. Coupled with a similar message that recently appeared on the website for GTA Online, this suggests that, as it announced in July, Rockstar is moving its full focus to production of GTA 6, with more news possibly coming soon on the GTA 6 release date.

However, a variety of files and code lines hidden in Red Dead Redemption 2 seem to reveal other content that was originally planned for Red Dead Online. YouTuber McDizzle Gaming highlights a variety of Red Dead Online assets which so far have not been released in the game proper – and given its current status are arguably unlikely to see the light of day.

Most significant of these are additional lines of dialogue for your companion, Cripps, whereby he references the player wearing a sheriff’s deputy badge. McDizzle Gaming speculates these could have appeared in relation to an additional player role — alongside bounty hunter, collector, et al — which would see the Red Dead Online player operate as a police officer. A large goods wagon is also visible in the game files, which would have appeared at the player’s base camp, again possibly hinting at an additional “merchant” role.

There are also traces of buyers or “fences”