Manage your Red Dead Redemption 2 mods with the Red Dead Redemption 2 Mod Manager

(Image credit: Bilago)

One of the best things about Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC—like all games on PC, really—is mods. RDR2 might be a grim tale of life in the harsh, unforgiving Wild West, but that doesn't mean you can't paint up Arthur Morgan's face like the Joker, if you want. Or maybe you want to be a Red Dead Superman, courtesy of this trainer mod. Want longer days, so you can get more done? No problem! Want to do whatever the hell this is? Okay, sure.

The downside to Red Dead Redemption 2 mods is that it can be a hassle to stay on top of them all—to manage them, if you will—especially if you get heavy into the scene and start installing every potentially useful and/or patently goofy thing you see. That's where the new Red Dead Redemption 2 Mod Manager on Nexus Mods comes into play: It helps eliminate headaches and confusion by simplifying the process of enabling and disabling mods in the game.

Creator Bilago said that the RDR2 Mod Manager is a "direct port" of their Grand Theft Auto 5 Mod Manager, which cut the development time down by weeks. It's functional, but not yet complete, and Bilago said that work to clean up the code and add new features (and remove others) will continue over the next few weeks.

The setup process is fairly straightforward, but it does require a spot of subdirectory creating and file copying, and naturally there's an element of "at your own risk" to it: The Mod Manager listing warns that "installed mods can and will delete vanilla game files requiring you to re-download them." It's not rocket appliances, but there does seem to be a little bit of confusion about the explanation in the comments. A follower posted a briefer explanation of how to set it up, but even that's not quite crystal clear. If you have doubts, you might want to wait for the tutorial video: Bilago said that one is coming shortly.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.