WhileRed Dead Redemption 2was a big hit, Rockstar has yet to hint whether a newRed Dead Redemptiongame might be in the works. WithRed Dead Redemption Onlinein maintenance mode and Rockstar presumably focused onGrand Theft Auto 6, it might be a while until fans get another trip to the Wild West. Still, the franchise is too big a hit for Rockstar to abandon it forever, and newRed Dead Redemptiongames will probably arrive sooner or later.
Rockstar has plenty of options for where to take the eventualrelease ofRed Dead Redemption 3. However, the franchise will likely benefit from continuing to take inspiration from other westerns. TheYellowstoneseries, in particular, took a relatively unique approach to spin-offs that futureRed Dead Redemptiongames might want to take advantage of.
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First airing on Paramount Network in 2018,Yellowstoneis a popular neo-western TV dramaset in modern-day Montana. It follows several members of the Dutton family, which owns the largest ranch in the state and faces conflict from real estate developers and bordering Broken Rock Indian Reservation and Yellowstone National Park. However, part of what makes the show stand out is not the original series itself but the franchise’s approach to spin-offs, which depict various generations of the family across multiple time periods.
This started with the prequel series1883, which debuted on paramount plus in 2022 and showed an earlier generation of Duttons as they embarked on the arduous journey to Montana during the times of the Old West. It was followed by 1923 and 1944, which likewise followed members of the Dutton family during those years. While the franchise has other spin-offs following characters who aren’t members of theDutton family,Yellowstoneis interesting because of how its various installments follow the same family across multiple periods.
Red Dead Redemptionmight benefit from taking a similar approach to its new installments. One might argue thatRed Dead Redemption 2already did this to a certain degree, with the second game being a prequel set in 1899. However, the games still broadly take place within the same general period, depicting the closing days of the Wild West and the beginning of the 20th century.
The most obvious direction forRed Dead Redemption 3is continuing the story of Jack Marston, John’s son. After John’s death at the end ofRed Dead Redemption, players can continue exploring the game world as Jack in 1914. After tracking down and killing the man who killed his father, players aren’t left with much closure for Jack’s story, other than the unsettling implication that he seems to be going down the same path his father tried so hard to escape. And while that is a good, if tragic, ending for the original game, it leaves the possibility of continued adventures open.
1914 was hardly an uneventful year, with World War One breaking out in July. One could argue that conflict was the real beginning of the 20th century, ushering in the modern world that had been merely encroaching during the events of the first twoRed Dead Redemptiongames. WithRed Dead Redemption’s Jack Marstonbeing about 19 in the game’s epilogue, there’s a good chance he may have fought in the war himself.
The First World War might not fitRed Dead Redemption 3. However, it’s not as if nothing happened in America after the war ended, with prohibition going into effect in 1920 when Jack was around 25. This would usher in a new era of criminal activity, withgangsters like Al Caponebuilding criminal empires on the illegal sale of alcohol. Although the crime of that era is usually associated with cities, plenty of bootlegging occurred in less-populated regions of America. It would even be possible to keep the end of an era motif by setting the game at the onset of the Great Depression.
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It would also be perfectly possible to bringRed Dead Redemptioncloser to the present day. The family still seems to be around, as players can even choose to be the child of a John Marston while creating their character inGrand Theft Auto Online. And while that’s not the same John fromRed Dead Redemption, the implication is that the character is one of Jack’s descendants. Amodern-dayRed Dead Redemptionmight veer perilously close to just beingGrand Theft Auto, and that’s a direction that Rockstar could go if it ever decided to tie its series together more explicitly.
However, with over 100 years betweenRed Dead Redemptionand the present day, Rockstar has plenty of eras to choose from. Alternatively, newRed Dead Redemptiongames could continue moving further into the past, following the lives of John’s ancestors. His father was a Scottish immigrant born on the boat to New York in 1873, was blinded in a Chicago bar fight, and died when John was 8. While John’s dad might not sound much like protagonist material on the surface,Red Dead Redemptioncertainly has a thing for tragic anti-heroes, and he sounds like fertile ground for the kind ofstories told by Rockstar Games.
Alternatively, 1855 at the tail end of California Gold Rush sounds like a good fit for the same “end of an era” motif that previous games embraced. This wouldn’t work with John’s direct ancestors, but his brothers or uncles might have made their way over in time. Of course, that’s assumingRed Dead Redemptionneeds to take place in America at all. Eighteenth and nineteenth-century Scotland was hardly a place where nothing happened, and perhaps the Marstons have a Scottish highwayman or two in their family tree.
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