“Red Dead Redemption 2” Screenshot Actually For Promising New MMO Wild West Online

05/14/2017 01:14 pm EDT

As we recently reported, a mysterious image made the rounds a few days ago, with many taking it to be the first in-game screenshot of Red Dead Redemption 2. The game clearly featured some sort of Wild West setting, so it's easy to see why folks jumped to that conclusion, but it turns out the image was from a completely different title, which has now been officially announced.

The game is called Wild West Online, and it sounds promising. Coming from new indie studio 612 Games and publisher DJ2 Entertainment, Wild West Online will be a PvP MMO that lets you form gangs, uphold or break the law, explore a vast frontier, and engage in all sorts of other down-and-dirty Old West activities. So, basically, the game is Red Dead Redemption, except all the varmints and cutthroats you deal with will be controlled by real people. That actually sounds kind of amazing.

In a PC Gamer interview DJ2 Entertainment vice president Stephan Bugaj explained why they're tackling the western genre:

"There's an audience for this that just wasn't being served on PC. So, we wanted to make this big, open Wild West world with a bit of a twist that, like the best MMOs, is a place where people can really live in."

According to Bugaj, Wild West Online will be less RPG-focused than most MMOs, with levels and loot not being the only reasons to keep playing.

"There's going to be story, character, and gameplay-driven motives to keep playing, but we haven't yet fully worked out what the progression system is going to be for that."

With Red Dead Redemption 2, the possibly-western-themed Far Cry 5, and now Wild West Online on the way, it seems gamers have a lot of shootin', sarsaparilla drinkin', and cow punchin' in their futures. Whether any of these other western games can compete with the juggernaut that is Red Dead Redemption 2 remains to be seen.

Wild West Online plans to launch a Kickstarter campaign sometime soon. Meanwhile, you can bookmark the game's website, which is teasing more information will be revealed this coming Wednesday, and check out first Wild West Online concept images in the gallery below.

[via PC Gamer]

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