Red Dead Redemption 2 is a Western-themed action-adventure game set in an open world environment. The game centers on Arthur Morgan, an outlaw and a member of the Van Der Linde gang in 1899, in the waning years of the American Old West and extinction of the age of outlaws and gunslingers. The player controls Morgan from a third-person perspective. The game features both single-player and online multiplayer components. Among returning characters are Dutch Van Der Linde and John Marston, the protagonist from the previous game.

The game will continue to use the Honor system from Red Dead Redemption, which based on how the player interacts with non-playable characters (NPCs) will affect how settlements, towns, and other groups will react towards Morgan.