‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ came out in 2018, and it is still one of those games that everything else gets measured against. The level of detail and the storytelling in it are hard to match, and most games released since have not come close. Rockstar has not confirmed ‘Red Dead Redemption 3,’ but former Rockstar co-founder and writer Dan Houser has talked about it publicly, and his comments suggest it is only a matter of when, not if.
Houser appeared on the Lex Friedman podcast and said it would be “sad” if Rockstar moved forward with another ‘Red Dead’ because the first two games form “a cohesive two-game arc.” However, he also admitted that a third game “will probably happen” at some point. Arthur Morgan actor Roger Clark has said something similar. He said, “I don’t have any insider information whatsoever, but of course there’s going to be another Red Dead. It sold over 60 million copies.”
Houser Pointed That The First Two Games Tell A Complete Story
What Houser is getting at is that ‘Red Dead Redemption’ and ‘Red Dead Redemption 2’ work together as one complete story. Even though the second game is a prequel, it feels natural because the first game was always about John Marston and the Van der Linde Gang’s history.
Rockstar was in a position to tell that story, and it landed. But now that both games exist, there is not an obvious next step that would feel as necessary as the first two did.
People have thrown around ideas for years. A game following Jack Marston, a Sadie Adler bounty hunting story, and another prequel going further back in the timeline. Any of those could work on paper, but the question a lot of people keep coming back to is what the point would be.
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‘Red Dead Redemption’ is not a comic book franchise where every character needs their own spinoff. And going further back in time would take away the mystery and subjectivity that made the first two games work. Rockstar might be better off leaving it alone while the legacy is still strong.
New ‘Red Dead’ Should Have A Completely New Story
The Van der Linde Gang’s story is done. John, Arthur, Dutch, Sadie, and Charles, their arcs were written to completion across both games, and bringing any of them back would only take away from what is already there. There is a reason most great stories only focus on a specific period in a character’s life and do not try to cover everything from start to finish.
But Rockstar is almost certainly going to use the ‘Red Dead’ name again because the brand recognition is too valuable to sit on. What makes more sense is doing what they did with ‘Red Dead Revolver’ back in 2004, which was a completely separate western game that had nothing to do with John or Arthur or Dutch.
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If Rockstar’s developers have an idea for a new western story, then calling it ‘Red Dead’ makes sense for marketing. But it should stop there. As of now, there is no confirmation that ‘Red Dead Redemption 3’ is in development, and Rockstar has not said a word about it. But based on what Houser and Clark have both said publicly, it is hard to imagine it never happening.
