Red Dead Online’s real-money store is live, here’s what it costs to buy gold bars

Rockstar Games released a sizable patch today for Red Dead Redemption 2. With that patch, it has also launched the cash storefront for Red Dead Online. Players can now purchase premium currency, called gold bars, with real money and trade them in for some items in-game.

Gold bars are available in several bundles:

• 25 gold bars for $9.99
• 55 gold bars for $19.99
• 150 gold bars for $49.99
• 245 gold bars for $74.99
• 350 gold bars for $99.99

There’s also a slot for a limited-time offer. Currently, you can buy a single bundle of 25 gold bars for just $4.99. The conversion rate for the main storefront runs from roughly 40 cents per gold bar for the smallest bundle, to less than 29 cents per gold bar for the largest bundle.

Rockstar Games via Polygon

Gold bars are a shortcut to unlocking items in Red Dead Online, including horses, customization options, clothing and even horse insurance. Many items are also gated behind in-game progress. For example, to purchase a rare, black Arabian horse players must be at least level 70.

“With Gold you can quickly unlock goods,” says a menu entry. “From weapons to horse supplies to unique items for your camp. Gold Bars help you achieve the American dream of being first in line, stockpiling an arsenal, and shopping with abandon while becoming the envy of everyone around you.”

Shortly after the beta launched, players spoke up about how challenging it is to earn money in Red Dead Online. Rockstar promised to revise the in-game economy. As a thank you for their patience, the developer has been handing out free in-game cash and gold bars. So far, most players should have around 30 bars on the house.

It’s not yet clear if any significant changes to the economy have been made with today’s patch. A cursory inspection of the weapons on offer indicates that there has been no change since modifications were made last week.