Here’s Why You Can’t Play Red Dead Online Yet

Why You Can’t Play Red Dead Online Yet

Just over a month since Red Dead Redemption 2 was finally released to the masses on PS4 and Xbox One, Red Dead Online has begun rolling out. We say rolling out because its initial release is a beta phase, which should enable Rockstar to smooth out any bumps in the road ahead of the official release. Just because it’s going live today, though, doesn’t mean you’ll necessarily be able to play Red Dead Online. If you’re one of the unlucky ones to not have access today, here’s why you can’t play Red Dead Online yet.

First off, don’t worry. Chances are you haven’t done anything wrong. Instead, this is Rockstar trying to manage the number of users trying to sign into the servers at once. In doing so, Rockstar hopes to minimize the number of server issues and crashes that players run into while exploring the wild west either alone or with friends online.

When you’re able to log into and play Red Dead Online depends on what version of Red Dead Redemption 2 you have, as well as when you first played the game. If you’re hoping to hop into Red Dead Online today on day-one, you’ll need to have picked up the Ultimate Edition of Red Dead Redemption 2.

Standard edition players can hope in as of tomorrow, as long as they played Red Dead Redemption 2 on its launch day, which was Oct. 26. We’ve included a full list of the requirements to play Red Dead Online on each day this week down below.

• Tuesday, November 27: All Red Dead Redemption 2: Ultimate Edition owners.
• Wednesday, November 28: All players who played Red Dead Redemption 2 on October 26 according to our data.
• Thursday, November 29: All players who played Red Dead Redemption 2 between October 26 to October 29th according to our data.
• Friday, November 30: All players who own Red Dead Redemption 2.

If, for some reason, you’re still unable to access Red Dead Online on any of these days despite meeting the criteria, chances are there may be some technical problems on Rockstar’s end. We’ll be sure to update this post as and when these crop up so you’re always in the know and can get playing as soon as possible.

Update: As we promised above, it seems as though Xbox One Ultimate Edition owners are having some issues with accessing Red Dead Online. Rockstar is currently investigating the issue.

We are aware of an issue affecting Xbox One Ultimate Edition players not being able to access Red Dead Online. Please be patient as we investigate this issue.

— Rockstar Support (@RockstarSupport) November 27, 2018

Want to know how to start Red Dead Online? Fear not, we’ve got you covered.

Update 2: Rockstar has since resolved the above issue that some Xbox One users were facing.

We have resolved an issue where eligible players were unable to access Red Dead Online Beta on Xbox One. Please restart your console and try again. Thank you for your patience.

— Rockstar Support (@RockstarSupport) November 27, 2018

That’s all you need to know to start Red Dead Online. For more tips, tricks, and guides on Red Dead Redemption 2 and its online component, be sure to check out our ever-expanding Red Dead Redemption 2 guide wiki.