Yeehaw! Red Dead Redemption 2's cowboys are using bridges to achieve orbit

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Arthur Morgan might not have lived to see the age of flight, what with his cowboy antics wrapping up before the Wright brothers make liftoff in 1903. But as this Red Dead Redemption 2 glitch proves, you don't need wings to launch an outlaw.

As spotted by Eurogamer's Emma Kent, a certain rickety bridge has been flinging cowpokes into the stratosphere. The glitch seems to have been first discovered by Redditor jaitom, however, whose clip shows an almost Control-esque nightmare bridge, glitching horrifically before yeeting ol' Arthur across the map.

Amazingly, the impact of falling from orbit doesn't quite kill brave bridge-jumpers, who have taken to using it as a form of fast-travel. There don't seem to be any boundaries to how far you can go, either, with some finding themselves in unfinished, out-of-bounds Mexican towns. Others have ended up in some truly extraterrestrial landscapes, or else fallen through the world entirely.

So how does a humble rancher hurl themselves into the skies? You'll want to pack a few throwing knives or hatchets before heading to the canyons just west of McFarlane's Ranch. Once there, simply hurl a few throwables into the bridges' planks to set it off. NPCs are also affected if you're feeling vindictive towards a particular barkeep or sheriff—but while you can try to fling multiple players at once, the bridge seems to work best when used one-at-a-time.

While some believed the bug to have been fixed this morning, Kent checked in earlier today and found the bridge is still flinging folks as expected. It's likely Rockstar will eventually patch up this pesky crossing, but until then, have fun trying to set the longest jump this side of the Rio Grande.

Who knows. You might even make it all the way to Tahiti.

Disclosure: My partner currently works at Rockstar North, though to the best of my knowledge she isn't involved in dodgy bridge construction.

Natalie Clayton
Features Producer

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.