Red Dead Redemption 2 is an epic tale of life in America at the dawn of the modern age.

America, 1899. The end of the wild west era has begun as lawmen hunt down the last remaining outlaw gangs. Those who will not surrender or succumb are killed.

After a robbery goes badly wrong in the western town of Blackwater, Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang are forced to flee. With federal agents and the best bounty hunters in the nation massing on their heels, the gang must rob, steal and fight their way across the rugged heartland of America in order to survive. As deepening internal divisions threaten to tear the gang apart, Arthur must make a choice between his own ideals and loyalty to the gang who raised him.

Built from the ground up for the latest hardware, Red Dead Online blends the classic multiplayer of the original Red Dead Redemption with the best of everything we have learned since then about creating deep multiplayer experiences. The result is something completely new and fun, and an experience that will continue to expand and evolve over time as we gain valuable feedback from our community in the Beta period.

Now that everyone has had a chance over the past month to experience the story of Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang in Red Dead Redemption 2, it is time to begin the beta period for Red Dead Online.

Built from the ground up for the latest hardware, Red Dead Online blends the classic multiplayer of the original Red Dead Redemption with the best of everything we have learned since then about creating deep multiplayer experiences. The result is something completely new and fun, and an experience that will continue to expand and evolve over time.

With the gameplay of Red Dead Redemption 2 as its foundation, Red Dead Online transforms the vast and deeply detailed landscapes, cities, towns and habitats of Red Dead Redemption 2 into a new, living online world ready to be shared by multiple players. Create and customize your character, tailor your abilities to suit your play style and head out into a new frontier full of things to experience.

Explore the world solo or with friends. Form or join a Posse to ride with up to seven players; gather around the fire at your Camp; head out hunting or fishing; visit bustling towns; battle enemy gangs and attack their hideouts; hunt for treasure; take on missions and interact with familiar characters from across the five states; or fight against other outlaws in both spontaneous skirmishes and pitched set-piece battles; compete with other players or whole Posses in open world challenges and much more.

Red Dead Online Beta’s latest Showdown Mode, Plunder, is now available. Up to 16 players form teams and battle to capture supplies from a central location and bring them back to their bases – or strategize to plunder them from a rival team’s base.  

See below for further details on Plunder, along with this week’s new Clothing and info on several items, Weapons and Horses - including the Arabian - now available for a limited time at lower ranks.

In the Red Dead Online Beta’s new Showdown Mode Plunder, frontier resources are in short supply - work with your team to fight through opposition and capture supplies from a central location to deliver it to your team’s base.

In addition to capturing loot from that central location, you can also use cunning to steal it from your opponent's base. But be careful - when holding you'll be visible to all other players. Keep your Health, Stamina and Dead Eye cores filled and use tonics to boost your tank to gold before making a run for packages and take advantage of team-based Dead Eye Ability cards like Focus Fire that lets your teammates cause a little more damage while your Dead Eye is active.

Outfitters across the five states have received the latest shipments of clothing this week:

• Owanjila Hat
• Porter Jacket
• Concho Pants

And as added bonuses this week, access for all coats, holsters, boots & gloves otherwise up to rank 40 will be available to all players, grab any of these styles until April 15th. For higher ranking players, the Turkoman, Missouri Fox Trotter and Arabian Horses are being lowered to Rank 40, while Volatile Dynamite, Incendiary Buckshot, Explosive Slug, Express Explosive, and Dynamite Arrow pamphlets are all lowered to Rank 60.

Red Dead Redemption 2 is currently available for PS4 and Xbox One.