User blog:2ks4/Calendar of RDR Events and News

This page provides an unofficial list of known future multiplayer events and other items of note for Red Dead Redemption (e.g. DLC releases). Past events are also listed as a historical reference.

Multiplayer Events
There are two kinds of multiplayer events - official Rockstar Social Club events and random "surprise" Triple XP sessions. Each of these event types is described in more detail below, in the sections following the calendar. In addition to the events listed here, Rockstar developers also jump online periodically and invite players to join them for an impromptu session. These sessions aren't covered here since they generally only last an hour and aren't announced in advance.

Though none have occurred so far in 2011, some Double XP weeks and weekends were held in 2010.

Future Event Calendar
All times listed here are U.S. Eastern time, which is the time zone used in Rockstar's announcements. To convert to your local time, please see the Time Zone Converter section, below. Since the surprise Triple XP sessions are announced with little advanced notice, please see the Past Events Calendar in a later section for a general idea of when they may be expected to occur.

Time Zone Converter
For those outside of the Eastern time zone, the following map may help convert to local time (click to enlarge the thumbnail). Eastern Time is zone "R" (-5). Remember to take the International Date Line and Daylight Savings Time into account when converting, if applicable. For official Social Club events, Rockstar also includes a countdown timer on the event page to help determine the start time.

Social Club Events
Generally twice a month, Rockstar hosts three-hour multiplayer events for some of their games. The events are centered around the Social Club Multiplayer Events page. During the event, this page provides live video of the session (also archived for later viewing), live chat, and a contest entry form. Although the events sometimes feature other Rockstar games (e.g. GTA IV and Midnight Club), Red Dead Redemption has been the primary focus so far in 2011. Sessions alternate between Xbox LIVE (XBL) and Playstation Network (PSN).

During the events, several Rockstar developers are online, leading the sessions (giving an opportunity to earn the Red Dead Rockstar trophy/achievement). In 2011, Rockstar started adding Triple XP to these sessions as well, meaning that XP for all game modes is earned at three times the normal level. Triple XP is activated for both platforms, regardless of which one is featured in the session.

To participate in the official session, review the rules on the Social Club Multiplayer Events page. Generally a friend request must be sent to the appropriate Rockstar account (e.g. RedDeadDev3) and the player must be online, in a posse of at least two players, so that the whole posse can be invited at once. Due to the number of participants, not everyone will receive an invite.

The Social Club Multiplayer Event calendar is announced quarterly. Known future events are listed below and are taken from the latest calendar announcement.

Triple XP Sessions
In February 2011, Rockstar announced that they would occasionally hold "surprise" Triple XP sessions during which XP for all game modes is earned at three times the normal level. Since that time, these sessions have occured generally once or twice a week. The majority of sessions have taken place during early to late evening, U.S. Eastern Time, though some sessions have also been targeted towards evening hours in Europe and Australia.

Because they are "surprise" sessions, they are not announced far in advance. Generally only a few hours notice is given (though sometimes hints are dropped a day or two in advance). Announcements are made via Rockstar's Twitter and Facebook accounts. Although events will be added below when possible, it is best to follow the Twitter or Facebook feeds due to the short lead time.

When Triple XP is activated, a message indicating that fact will appear upon first starting a multiplayer session. Upon performing any XP-earning activity, the tripled value will be awarded, but there will be no additional indication that the value was tripled (in other words, if a challenge worth 50 XP is completed, the screen will display "150 XP" not "50 XP x 3" or "150 XP (tripled)" or similar).

If the Triple XP message does not appear upon starting a session or if a session was already ongoing when the Triple XP started, the player must quit, turn off their console, and then start a new session in order for the Triple XP to register. Note that the sessions have been observed to start a little earlier and end a little later than the scheduled times, so testing in advance can be beneficial.

Past Event Calendar
Past events are listed here as a historical reference

Other Items
This list covers items unrelated to multiplayer events, such as DLC releases.