In Red Dead Online, players control a customizable silent protagonist who is freed from prison after being framed for murder, and tasked with taking revenge in exchange for proving their innocence.

Like the single-player game, Red Dead Online is presented through both first- and third-person perspectives, and players may freely roam its open world.

Like Grand Theft Auto Online, the game received updates adding new content, including selectable roles to earn additional rewards.

The final major update was released in July 2021, as Rockstar later withdrew development resources to focus on Grand Theft Auto VI.

Their leader, Horley, escorts the player to his employer, the widow Jessica LeClerk, who reveals the player was unfairly accused of murdering her husband Philip, who she suspects was actually killed by his business partners: banker Jeremiah Shaw, landowners Amos and Grace Lancing, and Grace's brother, outlaw Teddy Brown, with the aim of taking over the entire business.

After either series of events, the player's posse meets with Horley and Jessica to help them kill Teddy Brown, who is hiding out with his gang near the abandoned Fort Mercer.

The player then continues working for either Davies or Finch, helping the former deal with retribution from Montez's gang, or assisting the latter with a bank robbery in Saint Denis.

The player character is introduced to "Lightning" Maggie Fike, who once controlled the moonshining business in Lemoyne but disappeared after falling afoul of revenue agents led by the ruthless Reid Hixon.

With Lem's help, the player kills Hixon and captures Danny-Lee, bringing the latter back to Maggie who allows him to leave on the condition he vanish forever.

[14][15] Red Dead Online implements microtransactions by letting players purchase gold bars for in-game items such as weapons and cosmetics.

[26] Fear of the Dark, a limited event for Showdown Mode, was added for Halloween in October and November, dividing players into Hunters and Night Stalkers.

The naturalist's Vitalism Studies feature, allowing players to temporarily assume control of an animal, was viewed as an experience that "bend[s] reality" in contrast to the otherwise grounded tone.

[43] Released alongside Blood Money was the Quick Draw Club, four passes providing players with gameplay rewards and bonuses; the first was Dutch van der Linde's outfit.

[55] Red Dead Online received criticism at launch for its in-game currency rewards for activities, with players complaining they were too low for the cost of goods and upgrades.

[10] Similar complaints emerged about the griefing taking place in the game;[60] Rockstar fixed these issues by making player visibility dependent on their proximity and behavior.

[11] The Verge reported several users who played as black characters had been targeted by griefers posing as Ku Klux Klan-inspired clans or slave catchers who often called them racial slurs.

[61] Christian Just of GameStar felt Red Dead Online carried most of the strengths of the single-player, effectively fulfilling his childhood fantasy of cowboy life.

[62] Matt Martin of VG247 criticized some balancing issues but attributed them to the beta status, overall finding the game more enjoyable than Grand Theft Auto Online from both a technical and gameplay perspective.

[63] The Verge's Andrew Webster found Red Dead Online's battle royale mode more tense than games like Fortnite due to the smaller player count and slower playstyle.

[65] Kotaku's Heather Alexandra wrote Red Dead Online was "gamier" than its single-player counterpart, specifically in seeing the realistic towns transformed into deathmatch levels.

[71] By March 2019, PlayStation Official Magazine – UK's Dave Meikleham felt Red Dead Online was "off to a promising start" despite imbalanced deathmatches,[72] and OXM's Chris Burke yearned for more solo missions.

[73] Eurogamer's Jordan Oloman appreciated the improvements made by May 2019, praising the quality of the story missions, but felt players needed more purpose within the world.

[78] In January 2020, Edge identified significant glitches had become a deterrent for new players but wrote "when it works, the game provides an absorbing RPG experience in a stunning sandbox".

[79] In May 2020, the game was used by workers to conduct online business meetings instead of Skype or Zoom; the immersion of the world was cited as an appealing feature, though the technical issues and lengthy tutorial were criticized for new employees.

[80] Several players reported to playing as a refuge during COVID-19 lockdowns;[81] the Rift Trails, a group of equestrians who hosted daily rides through the world,[82] grew to over 2,500 members by 2022.

[94] In March 2021, Alex Avard of GamesRadar+ wrote Red Dead Online could "reach its true potential" if it continued to build upon the momentum of the previous year, though noted the monetization system remained unbalanced.

[98] Otto Kratky of Digital Trends praised Blood Money and wrote, unlike with previous updates, Rockstar was "finally appealing to those Old West clichés" and setting the game in the right direction.

[99] In December, PC Gamer's Lauren Morton expressed disappointment at the lack of activity compared to Rockstar's other projects throughout the year, though noted it "remains as expansive and gorgeous as ever".

[104] When a new Grand Theft Auto Online mode was released without an announcement, Kotaku's Zwiezen partly attributed Rockstar's silence to the fan campaign.

[115][116] TheGamer's Stacey Henley was disappointed by Rockstar's decision but found it inevitable as the game was "forced to live in the shadow" of Grand Theft Auto Online; she felt it was "never going to be" good and concluded "real closure ... is all we can ask for".