When is Red Dead Redemption 3 coming out? Don’t hold your breath

The gaming community is notoriously impatient. It’s no surprise that gamers are already excited for Red Dead Redemption 3, but it won’t be coming out for quite some time.

Red Dead Redemption 2 was so good that fans immediately started clamoring for a sequel. Unfortunately for these anxious fans, the gap between Red Dead Redemption 2 and 3 will probably be several more years. Rockstar has not even announced plans for a third game in the series, but the massive success and popularity of the sequel means that another is probably going to happen.

Here’s what we know about when RDR 3 and its release date based on the series timeline, Rockster’s other projects, and more.

What do we know about Red Dead Redemption 3?

The first thing to know is that recent leaks about Red Dead Redemption 3 are almost guaranteed to be fake. A small French retailer put up promotional images for the game earlier this year which still remains on the website. Fans can safely ignore that information, but there’s one part of the fake leak that may actually line up with reality.

The fake post claimed a RDR 3 release date of 2026, which roughly lines up with Rockstar’s normal development timelines. The time between big Rockstar games has significantly increased between titles ever since the early 2000s. Revolver to Redemption took six years and Redemption’s sequel took an additional eight. For reference, Red Dead Redemption 3 came out in 2018. 

With that development timeline in mind, it’s safe to say that RDR 3 won’t be coming out until at least 2026. Rockstar takes pride in its obsessive attention to detail and top-notch graphics, and both of those traits take time. It doesn’t help that several Rockstar-owned studios would need to work on Red Dead 3 simultaneously, and they already have a lot on their plates.

Is Red Dead Redemption 3 releasing after GTA 6?

Rockstar Studios has not confirmed any work on Red Dead Redemption 3, and the studio’s current workload means it will probably come out after several other big titles.

Rockstar Games is currently working on Grand Theft Auto 6. What little we know points to the game still being in early design, and Rockstar will dedicate all of its resources to the title. Work on a new western will probably only begin in earnest when the next GTA game comes out.

GTA Online remains one of the most popular games in the world and still boasts more than 80,000 average Steam players today. GTA V itself remains one of the most profitable games of all time and arguably defined its generation of consoles. Rockstar is very likely to finish that game up before announcing another major project. The studio has also confirmed work on a new Max Payne series, which could also delay the release of RDR 3.

All of this combined means that a third Red Dead won’t be released any time soon. Gun-toting gamers can still enjoy Red Dead Online in the meantime.