The source of a bizarre new monster that appeared in Red Dead Redemption 2 over the last few days — two-headed skeletons that stalk and attack players — appears to be the work of hackers, not Rockstar.
Reports of the ghoulish assaults started coming in around Friday. Through the weekend, multiple players took to Steam and Reddit to post accounts of skeletons randomly popping into the game. The two-headed enemies will run up to players and attempt to fistfight them to the death. Despite being seemingly invincible, the creatures will run off when shot at.
Initially, players were unsure if the monsters were intentionally added to the game by Rockstar. It wouldn’t be a stretch to assume as the original Red Dead Redemption featured the Undead Nightmare expansion pack, which brought zombies to the western game. However, last year, Rockstar stated that new DLC isn’t its current focus with Red Dead Redemption 2.
Despite the plausibility, it appears that crafty hackers are behind the attack. In response to a Steam thread about the incident, one player mentioned that when a similar attack happened to them, they looked up and noticed a hot air balloon in the sky. The poster also included a screenshot of the player in the balloon who allegedly had a mod menu equipped.
The two-headed skeleton model didn’t appear out of thin air. The monster is visible in the game proper by traveling to Beecher’s Hope. The location contains an overturned circus wagon featuring the skeleton, which is said to belong to conjoined twins reflecting the game’s lore.
Hackers have terrorized the game’s community since the launch of Red Dead Online. Modding tools have been used to spawn all kinds of nightmares, such as hordes of animal carcasses that began attacking players last month.
Rockstar has taken action against cheaters in the past, but for now, players are telling one another to keep an eye out for hackers when the rogue skeletons appear. Players can report anyone they find suspicious, such as those looming overhead in hot air balloons during the attacks. While this can be frustrating for fans who just want to play the game in peace, it’s also the kind of weird experience that certainly keeps Red Dead Online interesting.
