Red Dead Redemption 3 Enters a New Era—Rockstar Looks Beyond Arthur Morgan and John Marston

And after years of speculation about the future of Red Dead Redemption, new information and comments from people close to the franchise have once again put Red Dead Redemption 3 in the spotlight. Rockstar Games hasn't officially announced a third title, but the franchise remains one of Take-Two Interactive's biggest money-makers, so it's difficult to rule out another entry. 

One of the most interesting parts of the discussion comes from Dan Houser, the Rockstar Games co-founder and former lead writer behind the stories of both Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2. Houser left Rockstar in 2020, meaning any future Red Dead game would be developed without one of the people most closely associated with John Marston, Arthur Morgan, and the Van der Linde gang.

During an appearance on the Lex Fridman podcast, Houser was asked directly about the possibility of Red Dead Redemption 3. 

His response suggested that he believes another game will probably happen, although he also admitted that the idea is personally complicated for him. Houser sees the first two games as a cohesive story that follows the downfall of the Van der Linde gang through Arthur Morgan's perspective in the prequel and John Marston's story in the original game.

From his perspective, that particular story has already been completed. Houser compared the idea of someone else continuing Red Dead to watching a child being raised by someone else, reflecting how personally connected he is to the franchise. However, he did admit to one important fact: that he did not own the intellectual property. 

Houser also explained that the demanding development cycles behind games such as Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption 2 contributed to his decision to move on from Rockstar. He admitted that he was unsure whether he had another project of that scale in him. 

That means a future Red Dead game would represent the first major entry in the series without his creative involvement. Rockstar still has many developers who worked alongside Houser for years, but the franchise would undoubtedly be entering a new chapter.

From a business perspective, however, Red Dead is far too important for Take-Two to simply abandon. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick has previously described Red Dead as one of the company's permanent franchises, placing it alongside Grand Theft Auto in terms of long-term value. 

The sales numbers are why the company would want to keep investing in Red Dead. Red Dead Redemption 2 has sold tens of millions of copies and is still one of the most commercially successful games ever released. The franchise is also one of Rockstar's most recognizable properties outside Grand Theft Auto. 

That does not necessarily mean Red Dead Redemption 3 would continue directly from the stories of Arthur Morgan or John Marston. 

In fact, the departure of Dan Houser could provide Rockstar an opportunity to approach the franchise in a similar way to Grand Theft Auto. Each GTA game introduces new locations, characters, and stories, even though they all belong to the same larger universe and share familiar themes.

Several actors connected to Red Dead have also spoken about the possibility of another game. Roger Clark, who played Arthur Morgan, has said during fan appearances that he believes players will eventually see Red Dead 3. His comments are not an official confirmation, but they reflect the widespread belief that Rockstar will return to the franchise at some point. 

A possible prequel remains one option. Rockstar could go further back in time and explore the early years of the Van der Linde gang, potentially showing how Dutch met Arthur and John or exploring events such as the Blackwater heist. That direction could bring back familiar characters but still tell a story that hasn't been fully explored yet. 

Another possibility would be moving forward instead of backward. Rob Wiethoff, the actor behind John Marston, has spoken about discussions involving the future of Red Dead and the possibility of moving beyond the era explored in the first two games. That opens up the possibility of a completely different time period and potentially a new protagonist. 

Some of the speculation surrounding Red Dead Redemption 3 points toward the 1920s. The idea comes partly from previously discussed information involving a Rockstar developer's LinkedIn profile that reportedly referenced work connected to Red Dead Redemption 3 before the information was removed. 

Horses and wagons already have an important part in current Red Dead games, but dedicated vehicle AI could point to something else. In the framework of game development, vehicle AI is generally associated with traffic systems and motorized transportation that must traverse roads and populated environments. 

That choice would fit logically into the timeline established by the previous games. John Marston dies in 1911. 

The original Red Dead Redemption continues with the epilogue of his son Jack in 1914, as the world is changing rapidly. Another ten years in the future and a possible sequel would be set in the 1920s with Prohibition, a time when the old American frontier was mostly gone and the country was being industrialized.

A story with Jack Marston in that time could explore the demise of the cowboy era with the coming of cars, bigger cities, organized crime, and new kinds of weapons. Horses might still have meaning in rural places, and early cars like Ford Model Ts could be integrated into city environments. 

That balance could also explain why Rockstar would need to spend significant time deciding exactly what a future Red Dead game should be. Moving too far into the modern era could risk making the game feel too similar to Grand Theft Auto. 

A completely new cast remains another possibility. Rockstar could move back to the height of the Wild West and tell the story of an entirely different gang, using a new setting and protagonist. The series could also take a spin-off approach by focusing on a character such as Sadie Adler. 

Wherever Rockstar takes it next, it would also benefit from technology that wasn’t available during the development of Red Dead Redemption 2. Rockstar constantly updates its RAGE engine, and tech created for Grand Theft Auto VI could filter down to the studio’s future projects. 

There’s speculation that NPCs with more complex routines, memories, and reactions may be based on technology Rockstar has been working on in its recent patents and development. In a Red Dead game this might mean towns remembering what you did, different enemy gangs reacting to your behavior, and NPCs making decisions based on the changing situations. 

Improved navigation systems could also allow larger crowds to move naturally through complex environments without overwhelming performance. 

That would become especially compelling if Red Dead moves into a more populated setting, such as a growing city during the 1920s. Instead of simply cruising through small frontier towns, you might find busy streets with pedestrians, early automobiles, businesses, and organized crime.

Animation technology could also push the physical realism of Red Dead even further. Rockstar has already put huge focus on the movement and detail of characters, but future systems using machine learning could allow characters to react differently depending on injuries, physical conditions, and emotional states. 

All these possibilities notwithstanding, Red Dead Redemption 3 is probably still a long way off. Rockstar games have gotten more ambitious, expensive, and time-consuming to make. Meanwhile, the time between major releases has only gotten wider. Grand Theft Auto V was released in 2013, Red Dead Redemption 2 in 2018, and Grand Theft Auto VI is slated for 2026.

If the rumors about Red Dead Redemption 3 being in early planning stages or conceptual stages are true, then full production may not start until Rockstar is further along past Grand Theft Auto VI. Six to eight years of development on a project this size could see the game arriving in the early 2030s.

Rockstar has not yet officially announced Red Dead Redemption 3, and much of the information surrounding the potential setting and development still relies on rumors, old clues, and speculation. It’s clear that Red Dead is one of Take-Two’s most valuable franchises and there’s still plenty of direction the series could head in. 

The next Red Dead game could mark the beginning of a very different era for the franchise, regardless of whether Rockstar chooses to introduce a new protagonist, set the game in the 1920s, return to the Wild West, or explore something completely different.