We knew it would come at some point this month , but Rockstar owner Take-Two Interactive has confirmed that the beta for Red Dead Online will arrive at the end of November.

Loading

61 IMAGES

On an earnings call , Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick explained that "it will launch in public beta towards the end of the month – Rockstar will have a lot more to say about it".Zelnick didn't go into any more detail about exact timing, but at least we know it won't be a surprise release for the next few weeks.Red Dead Online is still a relatively unknown quantity, but Take-Two president Karl Slatoff called it, "an evolution of the classic multiplayer experience in the original Red Dead Redemption, blending narrative with competitive and cooperative gameplay in fun new ways.”In our interview with Rockstar about Online , the developers confirmed that it would use Red Dead 2's full world, and that its development would be fairly fluid, based on what players liked and disliked about the initial release (much like GTA Online).Zelnick also covered the idea of Red Dead 2's release "cannibalising" the playerbase of GTA Online. For now, he says, Take-Two's seen no evidence that GTA Online players have given up on the game to play the new Rockstar game. Of course, that doesn't mean a great deal given that the new online mode hasn't arrived as yet.Even without Red Dead Online, Rockstar's sure to be pleased with how Red Dead Redemption 2's been performing – the game's already sold over 17 million copies since October 26, which is more than the last game sold in 8 years.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's UK News Editor, and he is gently panicking about not being out of Chapter 2 yet. Follow him on Twitter