Summary
With its predecessor having over five years ago, more and more discussion is taking place about a potentialRed Dead Redemption 3. As the past two installments of the series extensively told the story of the iconic Van Der Linde gang, many fans are wondering where the franchise could go next without losing the core themes and gameplay beats that have made the IP so popular.
The potential narrative ofRed Dead Redemption 3is undoubtedly an important point of debate, but the multiplayer element of the game would be just as contentious.RDR2’sRed Dead Onlinegarnered a passionate and dedicated community despite its short period of official support, andRed Dead Redemption 3will need to choose whether it wants to repeat this against the likely backdrop ofGrand Theft Auto 6’s own multiplayer experience.
While many fans assume thatRed Dead Redemption 3will eventually release, it has not been officially confirmed by Rockstar.
Expansive online components are becoming a growing staple of major Rockstar releases, withGrand Theft Auto 5’sGTA Onlinebeing an overwhelmingly successful venture. Rockstar attempted to replicate this success in the more recentRed Dead Redemption 2, withRed Dead Onlineoffering a great contrast to the emotional weight and isolation of its single-player narrative.
Despite the hype that surroundedRed Dead Onlinecloser to the game’s release, it quickly became clear that it did not warrant continued support from Rockstar, only receiving a handful of content updates before essentially being abandoned.Major content updates forRed Dead Onlineofficially ended in July 2022, meaning the multiplayer experience got roughly two years of dedicated support compared toGTA Online’s decade.
Obviously, themodern setting ofGTAmakes its multiplayer experience more layered and engagingthanRed Dead Redemption’s, with the luxury of current-day vehicles, apartments, and weapons giving players more things to work towards. Despite this, there is a clear merit toRDR’s outlaw life in a multiplayer context, and the next installment in the franchise will have to think carefully about whether it should bother pursuing this at all.
Many fans believe thatRed Dead Redemption 3may follow the story of Jack MarstonfollowingRDR’s epilogue, perhaps fighting in the First World War and then adjusting to the rise of organized crime in the 1920s. Of course, this would sadly be a complete departure from the Old West themes that have made the IP so iconic, but a slightly more modern setting could revolutionize the multiplayer component ofRed Dead Redemption 3.
A 1920s setting would allow things like denser urban areas, cars, and more advanced weaponry to feature inRDR3’s online mode, bringing it slightly closer to the experience ofGTA Online. Despite this,RDR3would release some time afterthe massively anticipatedGrand Theft Auto 6, which is expected to have its own even more ambitious take onGTA 5’s online mode. IfRDR2’s online struggled to justify the resources that it took fromGTA Online, then it would be an even greater task forRDR3’s multiplayer to contend withGTA 6.Red Dead Redemption 3would be an exciting project regardless of its setting, but its choice to include an online mode is arguably the largest challenge that it would face.
