RDR3: Everything We Know About Red Dead Redemption 3

Rockstar Games is mainly known for two franchises, Grand Theft Auto (GTA), and Red Dead Redemption (RDR). While GTA 6 info is starting to become more and more concrete with its first official trailer reveal, news about Red Dead Redemption 3 remains scarce.

However, it would be completely nuts for Rockstar to abandon one of its most valuable gaming series. Therefore, it is highly likely that Red Dead Redemption will get a new game in the future. The pressing question that arises is, of course, when will there be a Red Dead 3? Here's everything we know so far.

Red Dead Redemption 3 Could Have Entered Early Development Already

With GTA 6 aiming for a release in 2025, it's a safe bet that Rockstar will eventually be working on Red Dead Redemption 3, if they don't already have some people doing so. Remember that Red Dead Redemption 2 was in development for 8 years, and we didn't hear anything about it until they had made a significant amount of progress already.

Despite rumors that have come up lately, there is no official announcement from Rockstar on whether Red Dead Redemption 3 is a topic at all. The resources in the development teams will probably be focused on finishing GTA 6 before taking on the next big project. But that doesn't mean that Rockstar hasn't started thinking about RDR3 from a strategical perspective already.

Red Dead Redemption could even be in development already – at least that's what Twitter/X user MyTimeToShineHello claimed. The account is usually more into leaking movies than games, so you should definitely take the Tweet with a grain of salt. Anyway, with GTA 6 on the horizon, it would actually make sense for Rockstar to already look further ahead.

Red Dead Redemption 3 is officially in the works! pic.twitter.com/jfHPXS5i2f

— MyTimeToShineHello (@MyTimeToShineH) September 3, 2023

Waiting For Red Dead Redemption 3: Release Unlikely For This Decade

Without an official confirmation or announcement, we can only speculate when the game will be released. However, now that we know that GTA 6 will be released in 2025, Red Dead Redemption 3 could be released around 2030.

Yep, that is a long wait, but hear me out: Red Dead Redemption 1 and 2 were released 8 years apart in 2010 and 2018, respectively. Recently, Rockstar has slowed down its own game production to support its games for longer and to curb crunch, so another eight-year gap, which would mean 2026 for RDR3, seems highly unlikely. Obviously, Rockstar will need a lot more time after just finishing GTA 6 in 2025.

Setting Speculation: America Again Or Somewhere Else?

There are a lot of options for how Red Dead Redemption 3 could play out. Setting-wise, it is safe to assume that we will once again return to America and México. Unfortunately, that would also mean that not much would change.

Since Rockstar already had a GTA game set in London, and since Peaky Blinders has made people very aware of what Birmingham looked like in 1919, it's not entirely out of the question that Rockstar would set the game in the UK – though it would be the wildest and most surprising of choices.

Still, considering that Red Dead Redemption 2 took place in 1899, and Red Dead Redemption 1 took place in 1911, a 1919 setting in Birmingham would fit right into the timeline. It also wouldn't be hard to tie it into the existing storylines, since there are many characters that Rockstar could have 'escaping' the Wild West for England. Another setting that people are craving is a Native American theme, as well as something tapping into South America more.

Red Dead 3 Story: Theories & Speculation

In terms of fan theories, the current front-runner in terms of a story is Landon Ricketts. Ricketts wouldn't stray far from the template set by John Marston and Arthur Morgan, as he is another famed gunslinger whose stories are yet to be told in the game. In Red Dead Redemption 1, we get to meet old Landon Ricketts, but little is known about the story behind the legend, and it's certainly a story that Red Dead fans are craving to explore.

Another popular story request is to explore the background of Charles Smith. Charles was one of the most popular characters in Red Dead Redemption 2 and his story basically writes itself: He was born to a Native American mother, and an African American father, and eventually found his way into Dutch's gang. What an interesting life!

Still, there is a lot of story to be told in between: Charles' ties to Native American tribes, and his life as an underground fighter certainly would lend themselves to craft a story around. Also, using Charles Smith as the main character would be a welcome departure from the prototype gunslinger trope, and it would open Red Dead Redemption 3 up to new audiences.

Almost Certainly A Next-Next-Gen Exclusive

Whenever RDR3 is released, you can be pretty sure that Rockstar Games will develop the game for the next-gen consoles. Considering that we think Red Dead Redemption 3 won't come out until 2030, it makes sense to speculate that it won't be on the current generation of consoles, but on PS6 or the new Xbox generation (Xbox 2, Xbox 720, Xbox XX, whatever it will be called).

This also seems to be Microsoft's plan. According to leaked internal documents, the tech giant plans to release the next Xbox in 2028. Maybe RDR3 could be cross-gen, depending on how long development takes, but you should definitely not count on it being available for older consoles.

Since Red Dead Redemption 2 was released on PC, it's very likely that Red Dead Redemption 3 will be released on the PC as well. But who knows – maybe by then we'll all have moved on to cloud gaming or VR when Red Dead Redemption 3 is finally released.

It's very unlikely that RDR3 will be released on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One, since it seems that also GTA 6 - which will release ahead of Read Dead Redemption 3 - will be a next-gen exclusive.