What began as a possible leak of Red Dead Redemption 2 has only taken a day to be debunked, as the creators of a previously unannounced Wild West MMO have confirmed it’s actually from their game instead.

The story began when a mysterious screenshot surfaced on GTAForums, showing a cowboy leaning on a railing in an obviously Old West–set town. The ensuing fan frenzy centered around whether the shot was a leak for Rockstar’s hotly anticipated Red Dead Redemption 2 or an elaborate hoax. Now, however, we know that neither theory is correct. The real Slim Shady has stood up, and the screen is actually from a Read Dead-esque MMO known as Wild West Online.

The project from new studio 612 Games will be catapulted into gaming zeitgeist due to the mix-up, but, according to Stephan Bugaj, creative vice president of publisher DJ2, the comparison to Red Dead Redemption 2 is welcome. In an interview with PC Gamer, Bugaj said that Wild West Online, which launches a Kickstarter campaign at the end of the month, was created as an homage to Red Dead–style gameplay, but with a player-versus-player, MMO twist.

Bugaj cited the studio’s desire to fill the hole of open-world Western games on PC, with an experience that allows for long-term play that ramps up the complexity of the cops and robbers motif. As far as gameplay, players can commit crimes alone or in gangs and earn bad rep for bounty hunters to target them, or, for the more calm at heart, prospectors and gatherers can farm gold and resources to keep the Old West economy flowing. The goal of the game is for players to embark on a complete PvP experience, leaving justice and theft to the choices of individual players, not to NPCs.

Development on the game is minimal at this point, as 612 is setting a $250,000 crowdfunding goal to release a full PC version by year’s end. PC Gamer noted the stretch goals on the Kickstarter page reveal several possible additions to the game, including train robberies and women as playable characters.

With a projected release date of this fall or winter, it seems Wild West Online is putting a bounty on Red Dead Redemption 2‘s head, which is slated for fall 2017. Regardless of how the image ended up on GTAForums, the developers at 612 have certainly benefited from the free buzz. Intentional or not, hitching their wagon to one of the most anticipated games of the year is downright genius.

Posted: May 12, 2017 12:49 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/leaked-red-dead-redemption-2-screen-is-actually-from-a-new-mmo/