One former Rockstar Games animator seems pretty confident that the next game in the Red Dead Redemption franchise is already in the works. Although fans have been waiting more than seven years for the next Red Dead Redemption game, this particular insider indicates that its release may still be several years into the future.
One of Rockstar's most easily recognizable IPs, the Red Dead Redemption games are set around the turn of the 20th century, and the western action-adventure series has received major accolades from around the gaming community. The first game was released in 2010 and holds a Player Rating of 90 on OpenCritic. Its 2018 sequel reached even greater heights, achieving a perfect 100 score by the same metric, and it hasn't slacked in the sales department either, as an earnings statement released in August 2025 showed Red Dead Redemption 2's lifetime sales had eclipsed 77 million copies.
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Red Dead Redemption 3 Could Be in the Works
But with Red Dead Redemption 2 nearing its eighth anniversary and still no announcement of a game to carry on its legacy, some fans have started to wonder whether they will ever see a Red Dead Redmption 3. Mike York, a former animator at Rockstar whose credits include Grand Theft Auto 5 and Grand Theft Auto Online, reportedly told ESports Bets that the odds of the next game in the series being in production right now is a very likely possibility. "GTA 6 is nearing the end of its production so I would be shocked if they hadn't already started working on RDR3," his statement reads, indicating that Rockstar is still committed to giving fans another run at Red Dead Redemption.
Assuming that the game is in development, though, York urges fans to temper their expectations for its release, as its arrival is still likely several years away, and it probably won't get into players' hands until 2032 at the earliest. Red Dead Redemption 2 is a lengthy game, with its main story alone taking 50 to 60 hours to finish, while completionists can easily spend well over 80 hours when factoring in its side quests and additional content. Games with that much weight normally take about five to seven years of work from start to finish, York noted, and he pointed to the extended period of time fans have had to wait for Grand Theft Auto 6 as an example to back up his theory on why the game will take so long to reach players.
On the topic of the Grand Theft Auto franchise, it's another one that York expects Rockstar is already working on the next unannounced installment for. Grand Theft Auto 6's release date delay was announced in late 2025, moving the highly anticipated game off its May 26, 2026 target to a new projected release date of November 19. While fans still have several months left to wait for that game, York believes Grand Theft Auto 7 may already be in the works, though it'll likely follow the same pattern as Red Dead Redemption 3 and won't be available for several years. "Throughout the gaming industry, companies don't tend to work on one project at a time; they always start developing the next thing once their current game is nearing completion," he explained.
Following that logic, he acknowledged that there is still the chance that neither series' next unannounced sequel could be in active development and that Rockstar may be working on something entirely unexpected. Either way, the wild west series is far from abandoned. Recently, Rockstar released a new batch of online rewards for Red Dead Redemption 2 players, including Harshaw Gauntlets, the Clairborn Coat, and multiplier rewards on RDO$, Role XP, and XP for all levels of bounties. These rewards will be available until February 2, so fans who've been itching for a new experience will need to claim them soon.
Source: Esports Bets (via Dexerto)
Red Dead Redemption 2
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 95 /100 Critics Rec: 93%
- Released
- October 26, 2018
- ESRB
- M for Mature: Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Nudity, Sexual Content, Strong Language, Use of Drugs and Alcohol
- Developer(s)
- Rockstar Games
- Publisher(s)
- Rockstar Games
