Citi Says a New Red Dead Game Could Arrive in 2027 or 2028, but GameSpot Calls It Wishful Thinking

A new Red Dead Redemption game could launch in 2027 or 2028, according to a Citi note. The bank said that timeline “may not be unreasonable,” GameSpot reported on October 16. It is an analyst's view, not an announcement from Rockstar Games.

The prediction has circulated widely among fans, who have waited for a follow-up to one of the most acclaimed open-world games of the last decade. Because it comes from a financial institution rather than the developer, it reflects an assessment of the market and the company's finances more than any knowledge of Rockstar's internal plans.

How a Bank Note Turned Into Red Dead Speculation

Citi's note was about Grand Theft Auto VI and Rockstar, and it tied the possibility to Rockstar's claim that the game did not cost $1.5 billion to make, according to GameSpot. The report has also been tied to the idea that a new Red Dead release could ease concerns about Take-Two's earnings after GTA VI, per a Yahoo Finance headline.

Analyst notes of this kind generally focus on how a company's release schedule affects revenue. A major release can lift a publisher's earnings for a year or more, and the period after one often raises questions about what will follow. In that context, a second blockbuster arriving within a couple of years would address a possible gap, which explains why a bank would raise the idea. The note's starting point was the cost of the Grand Theft Auto game, and the Red Dead possibility is an inference drawn from that discussion.

The Franchise Behind the Speculation

The Red Dead series began with Red Dead Redemption in 2010, a western set in the early twentieth century that followed former outlaw John Marston. Red Dead Redemption 2, released in 2018, moved back in time to follow Arthur Morgan and the Van der Linde gang in 1899, and it became one of the best-regarded games of its generation. The first game later returned in a re-release on PlayStation 4 and Nintendo Switch in 2023. That history explains the persistent appetite for a new entry, since a third main game would extend a series with a loyal following.

Why GameSpot Pushes Back

GameSpot called the timeline “extremely ambitious and wishful thinking.” It noted that major Rockstar releases have historically come years apart, that the studio now has its teams work on one project at a time, and that GTA VI and GTA Online still need support.

The studio's record supports the skeptical reading. The original Red Dead Redemption arrived in 2010 and its sequel followed in 2018, a gap of roughly eight years, and the studio's flagship Grand Theft Auto releases have also been separated by long intervals. A game of this size requires years of design, art and engineering, and a studio that concentrates its teams on one title at a time leaves little room to develop a second in parallel while the first is still being supported with new content.

Executives Talk About Speeding Up

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has said long development cycles should not be confused with a “lackadaisical approach,” and that new technology could compress some timelines. Rockstar's Phil Hooker said hiring and technology updates should help future games arrive faster. GameSpot says those comments may be aimed at analysts and investors and are “just talk” for now.

The statements deserve attention because they come from people who would know how the company works, but they stop short of any commitment. Neither executive named a game or a year. The argument they make is general: better tools and a larger team could shorten the time between projects. Whether that proves true in practice will only be visible when Rockstar begins to announce its next releases, and until then, the comments remain expressions of intent rather than a schedule.

Two Competing Readings of the Same Facts

The disagreement between Citi and GameSpot comes down to how much weight to give new technology and staffing versus the company's established pace. Citi's view treats a faster cycle as plausible, while GameSpot's treats it as unlikely given what is known about how Rockstar operates. Both agree on the underlying facts: Rockstar has made no announcement, and the near-term focus is on its Grand Theft Auto game. The difference lies in prediction, which is why readers should treat either view as an informed opinion.

A Game That Still Draws Players In

Rockstar has not announced a new Red Dead game. Red Dead Redemption 2 is still drawing attention years after its launch, and RDR2.org reports players are still finding secrets in it.

The continuing interest in the 2018 game is one reason the question of a successor keeps returning. A title that continues to reveal new discoveries years after release keeps its community engaged, and that engagement sustains the appetite for more. It also gives Rockstar commercial reasons to return to the series eventually, though no timing for a return has been announced.