Red Dead Online Gets Surprise Update That Adds Undead Nightmare-Style Zombies and Other Missions

Rockstar Games has released a new update for Red Dead Online out of the blue, adding new missions, rewards and additional content to the game. The update, called “Strange Tales of the West”, includes four new Telegram missions, acquired at any post office or from the lockbox at the player's camp, that each come with a specific theme — one very reminiscent of the Undead Nightmare expansions to Red Dead Redemption. The Strange Tales of the West update is now available to Red Dead Online players on PC and consoles.

Red Dead Online Gets New Update

The Red Dead Online update comes as a surprise to players as Rockstar had largely halted major updates to the game in 2022. Strange Tales of the West includes four new Telegram missions, all of which will require players to investigate unexplained and weird phenomena.

The first, titled “Strange Tales of the Plague”, brings back an Undead Nightmare-style zombie-themed mission to Red Dead Online. The mission is based around a strange plague spreading in Armadillo that turns people into undead creatures. “It'll fall on you to retrieve several of these diseased corpses for scientific examination, if you can avoid infection and fend off attacks from a resurgent cell of nearby cultists,” Rockstar's description reads in its newswire post about the update.

Then there's science-fiction-themed “Strange Tales of Modern Science”, that takes players to Brathwaite Manor to take down a robotic enemy. “Strange Tales of the Bayou” has players investigating strange occurrences in and around the swamps of Lagras. And finally, “Strange Tales of the Wilderness” tasks players with tracking down a scientist gone missing in the Tall Trees region on the map.

The update also comes with several rewards, including additional gold, XP and RDO$ (in-game currency) for completing Telegram missions and other activities.

Additionally, players who jump into Red Dead Online this month will receive the Rebellion Poncho, among other rewards. The update also adds a new community-based outfit.

A major Red Dead Online update with new missions is rare considering Rockstar had stopped major updates for the title in 2022. The new update has thus sparked speculation around a reported Red Dead Redemption 2 next-gen patch.

Back in May, Gamereactor, citing sources close to Rockstar Games, reported that a Switch 2 port of Red Dead Redemption 2 could arrive later this year, and the game could finally get a next-gen patch on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X. Rockstar, of course, has not announced or even hinted at a next-gen update for Red Dead Redemption 2.

The game originally launched on PS4 and Xbox One in 2018 and arrived on PC a year later. Red Dead Redemption 2 does not yet have a native app on current-generation consoles and is locked to 30fps on PS5 and Xbox Series S/X.