Red Dead Online is getting a new update called Blood Money on July 13. The DLC adds new content to the game and will not be paywalled like previous updates.
Red Dead Online hasn’t let players really let loose since its launch. Sure, players can sell moonshine or steal trading goods, but that’s about all the illicit activity there is. Otherwise, players have been limited to nature-watching, bounty-hunting, or walking around the west with a metal detector, which doesn’t particularly scream “outlaw.” That’s all seemingly being resolved in Blood Money.
According to a post on the Rockstar Newswire, players will team up with Guido Martelli, the right-hand man to Angelo Bronte, a crime lord that plays a significant part in the game’s story. Players will work with the criminal to recover a “valuable commodity known as Capitale” that has made its way to the hands of other low lives across the west. Complete this task and Martelli will have more criminal opportunities to take advantage of.
Rockstar’s post also stresses a surprising point: Blood Money and its content will not be locked behind a paywall. “Martelli is purely focused on results,” reads the post, “entry into this world of more civilized crime requires nothing beyond a trusty sidearm and the willingness to use it, and no upfront investment is required.” This is a significant departure for Red Dead Online, which has locked its previous content updates behind its own in-game premium currency, gold bars.
Blood Money will add two new gameplay features to Red Dead Online: Crimes and Opportunities. The former are doled out by Martelli’s contacts, and “range from cloak-and-dagger coach holdups to multi-stage robberies — including kidnapping, brutal debt collections, and more.”
Opportunities will be larger missions focused on disrupting the attempts of a Lemoyne senator looking to take criminal operations out of business. Somehow, this politician is weakened by stealing valuable jewels which can then be given to Martelli. The first opportunity will launch along with the update on July 13, with two others coming at later dates.
