GTA and Red Dead Online players get guns and sweaters for Christmas

The GTA Online festive sweater. — (Image credit: Rockstar)

Grand Theft Auto Online and Red Dead Redemption 2 have begun their festive celebrations, the most obvious sign of which is the snowfall carpeting southern San Andreas and all five states of the Frontier. Red Dead's grumpy cowpokes now have Christmas trees illuminating their jowels in what I'm sure is a period-appropriate fashion, and GTA Online's cash-happy outlaws can sprint about in Christmas jumpers to sprinkle some cheer amidst the homicide.

Until December 30 both games' environments will be decked with boughs of holly, carolers will be going around, and there's a bunch of gifts waiting for those who log in. GTA Online players get a bunch of clothing, including the Green Cluckin' Festive Sweater seen above, some vehicle liveries, a 'holiday care package' filled with enough ordnance to take out an army compound, and a free vehicle, the Grotti Brioso 300. Full details of the trinket-stuffed stocking here.

If you're more the rootin-tootin' type, Red Dead Online's gunsmiths are giving out a new gun variant for free, the Winter Evans Repeater, plus all players will receive a coupon for a free Coat to keep the chill out, and a free Repeater. There's a bunch of triple-cash and triple-XP bonuses running across various modes, new horses, a bunch of in-game discounts, and a new legendary target for bounty hunters. Here are the full patch notes, and doesn't the Red Dead Christmas card look nice?

Red Dead Online's 2020 Xmas card — (Image credit: Rockstar)

GTA Online continues to show incredible longevity, with the recent Cayo Perico heist its most substantial update since launch (it was generally well-received by players, though most agree the stealth sections can do one). Of partiicular note was the ability to play this content as a solo player, something Rockstar says GTA Online will see more of in the future.

Red Dead Online recently launched as a standalone game on Steam and the Epic Store (and is available for $5 until February 20, 2021), and isn't quite at the scale of its older brother. Indeed, Red Dead players look at GTA Online's post-launch support, hawk a loogie into the spittoon, and mutter something about how it must be fine to be one of them folks with modern ways, but we likes the Frontier jest fine. Only kidding: They dress up as clowns to protest a lack of updates. To be fair it seemed to have some effect, as this year's Hallowe'en event was one of RDO's best.

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Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."