Although Rockstar Games is perhaps most known for the Grand Theft Auto franchise, its most colossal project to date lies with the Red Dead Redemption franchise. To make Red Dead Redemption 2 a reality, the company had to draw from all its worldwide studios, resulting in a total of an estimated 2000 employees working on it. It is also estimated that Rockstar spent half a billion dollars on development and marketing, making Red Dead Redemption 2 one of the most expensive video games ever.
Despite the enormous amount of resources that have been invested in Red Dead Redemption, it can sometimes feel like Rockstar does not give the series the attention it deserves, especially if one looks at how Red Dead Online has been neglected. However, Rockstar simply has to make Red Dead Redemption 3 happen, as the Red Dead universe that has been established is teeming with stories to explore, and there are just no other Western video game franchises of the same scale.
Red Dead Redemption Has Many Unanswered Questions
While Red Dead Redemption follows John as he hunts down members of his former gang, Red Dead Redemption 2 explores how a once extremely tight-knight clique rapidly disintegrates, and what becomes of outlaws when the era of the Wild West comes to an end. The games do a good job of telling the story of the rise and fall of the Van der Linde gang, but there are still plenty of unanswered questions that Red Dead Redemption 3 could answer.
A new Red Dead Redemption game could finally reveal the fate of Sadie Adler, one of Red Dead Redemption 2's most memorable characters. The game ends with her parting ways with John Marston and his family, and no explanation of what her future holds is given. Charles' future is left similarly uncertain, and though he is a man of few words, he plays an important enough role for players to care about his fate. Although Red Dead Redemption 3 would not need to directly follow prior games, the Van der Linde gang alone provides ample foundation to tell more stories.
There are also plenty of mysteries in the Red Dead Redemption universe that deserve to be further unfurled. The most enduring is perhaps the Strange Man, a figure who occasionally gives out missions and who knows far more than he should. His imperviousness to bullets suggests he may have supernatural origins, while his concern with John Marston's morality has caused some to hypothesize that the Strange Man may be a devil or angel. This is just one example of many that could be further explored in future games.
There Are No Western Video Games Like Red Dead Redemption
The Red Dead Redemption series presents open-world gameplay on a scale that other games have struggled to compete with. This is best seen with Red Dead Redemption 2, where players can get immersed in the pre-industrial heartlands of America. The realism is taken to an obsessive degree, and there are scores of species of plants and animals to discover and use for clothing, ammunition, and food. Interacting with NPCs feels incredibly natural thanks to the in-depth conversation options that allow players to choose. Whether it comes to galloping across the countryside and drinking in the view or dressing up in leather boots before hitting the local saloon, no franchise offers a Western gaming experience as comprehensive as Red Dead Redemption.
Without a Red Dead Redemption 3, the Western genre in gaming suffers a huge blow. Although there are dozens of open-world games, very few have Western settings, and none do it on the scale that the Red Dead Redemption series does. For gamers looking to live out a virtual life in the Wild West where they can spin revolvers and tame mustangs, Red Dead Redemption is the easy choice, and Red Dead Redemption 3 would ensure that the beloved genre never dies out.
Red Dead Redemption Is a Trendsetter
Red Dead Redemption has proven to be an important series, as it has gone on to influence an entire generation of games. Following the release of Red Dead Redemption, a new benchmark was set for open-world gaming, and the most ambitious developers around the world strived to create similarly immersive experiences. Sucker Punch's Nate Fox revealed that Red Dead Redemption was a massive inspiration for Ghost of Tsushima because it "did such a fantastic job bringing the fantasy of being an outlaw cowboy to life." Similarly, CD Projekt Red was amazed by Red Dead Redemption 2, and it aimed for Cyberpunk 2077 to be similarly refined.
Red Dead Redemption has proven itself to be a franchise that is capable of bringing out the best in Rockstar, and the innovative gameplay features, cutting-edge visuals, and storytelling have continually advanced gaming. Red Dead Redemption 3 would allow Rockstar to push boundaries yet again and redefine the way that developers think about open-world design and interactions with NPCs.
According to rumors, a Red Dead Redemption remake may be in the works, which suggests that Rockstar is still paying attention to the franchise and is willing to invest in it. With Rockstar's history, it would be very easy for Red Dead Redemption to go the way of the company's many other franchises, such as Bully and Midnight Club, and eventually fade into obscurity. However, with the amount of potential packed into the Red Dead Redemption universe, there simply has to be a Red Dead Redemption 3.
Red Dead Redemption 2 is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.