We always knew it was never a matter of “if” but simply a matter of “when” with Red Dead Redemption 3, and despite the lack of a confirmed release date (not even a rough release window) from Rockstar Games, there’s cause for excitement. Or, at the very least… mild intrigue.
Earlier this month, noted pop culture leaker @MyTimeToShineHello tweeted the following:
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But as you can imagine, further details are virtually non-existent. Everything from storylines (potentially centred upon famed gunslinger Landon Ricketts during his heyday) to setting (potentially trading the Wild West for England’s Birmingham) are purely speculative at this stage.
It also goes without saying that we’ll be waiting quite a while.
“The time it takes to create something phenomenal requires us to be thoughtful and willing to rest the titles, so it becomes a special event,” Zelnick, Rockstar Games CEO, said in reference to the forthcoming trilogy completer at least year’s Jefferies Virtual Global Interactive Entertainment Conference.
At the very same conference, the chief executive would emphasise the importance of setting aside the necessary time between major releases to preserve that sense of rarity of excitement — the opposite of which we’ve seen played out with both Call of Duty and Assassin’s Creed — while also comparing the enduring cultural relevance of Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption and Grand Theft Auto to the iconic James Bond film series.
“If it’s really, really great, it will keep going.”
The beloved Western survival game franchise’s inaugural title was published all the way back in 2004 with Red Dead Revolver, before soaring to all-new heights of success with 2010’s Red Dead Redemption. Red Dead Redemption 2 (2018), of course, would be the one that solidified said franchise’s status among the greatest video games ever created.
As for a time frame for the Red Dead Redemption 3 release date, it’s unlikely to see the light of day before 2030 — blowing out the usual eight-year gap between instalments — which we’re not exactly mad about considering the sizable cuts of steak currently on Rockstar Games’ plate, i.e. the long-awaited Grand Theft Auto 6 (GTA 6).
GTA 6 is expected to drop sometime between 2024 and 2025 — as well as become history’s most expensive video game, according to popular YouTubers like INTER and publications such as Gamerficial (industry experts have predicted RD3 will require the same investment in terms of time and resources).
But spending of this billion-dollar calibre (production + marketing) isn’t exactly uncharacteristic for Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive Software. Nor is it a considerable risk.
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GTA 5 managed to earn over $800 million on launch day alone and continues to rake it in through next-gen reissues + GTA Online a decade after release. In fact, according to Take-Two accountants, it’s generated nearly $7.7 billion as of 2023.
At the time of this writing, the most expensive games of all time are as follows (development budgets only):
- Star Citizen — $543 million [Cloud Imperium Games]
- Destiny — $500 million [Activision Blizzard]
- Cyberpunk 2077 — $316 million [CD Projekt SA]
- Call of Duty 2: Modern Warfare — $250 million [Activision Blizzard]
- Final Fantasy VII — $145 million [Square Enix]
Note: All $$$ = USD
