Red Dead Redemption 3 prequel setting and lead character leaves fans divided

Red Dead Redemption fans have been talking about what they'd like to see next from the Wild West classic from Rockstar Games, and it's a discussion that's left them divided.

The original game in the series, Red Dead Revolver, was released in 2004 and started life as a Capcom project before Rockstar Games acquired the rights.

It’s pretty much a given that we’ll get a new game in the series at some point but as of right now, we can only speculate.

Check out the Red Dead Redemption 2 trailer below!

Red Dead Redemption 2, which is set in 1899, stars Arthur Morgan and is a prequel to 2010's Red Dead Redemption.

Red Dead Redemption was set in 1911 and centred around John Marston, and its later setting is why some fans believe we’re getting another prequel.

If the third numbered entry was set after 1911, it would pretty much lose its Wild West identity. As such, it makes sense that Red Dead Redemption 3 could be set before 1899.

The common story factor in both of the franchise's most recent games surrounds antagonist, Dutch van der Linde, the infamous gang leader of which Arthur and John are both members.

Red Dead Redemption 2 begins with the Dutch van der Linde gang running from the law after a brutal heist gone wrong in the town of Blackwater.

However, fans know very little about what took place in Blackwater as it was not shown in either game and we were only fed snippets of information from the characters.

This is why some fans believe that Red Dead Redemption 3 could be the perfect setting to explore that story further.

“I think it's basically guaranteed that we're getting a prequel to RDR2 which will be the last of this story arc. I would love to play as a younger Dutch as he puts the gang together,” said Redditor GoatJamez, kicking off a discussion.

“What makes you think anything is 'basically guaranteed'? They might have left Arthur and the gang’s backstory open-ended enough to make a second prequel if it shakes out but I don’t think that’s by all means guaranteed,” suggested another user.

“I would hate having to play as Dutch, knowing how his story ends and what he does to my other favourite characters,” explained Black-Sam-Bellamy. “I want to inhabit a character, and I can't do that if the character's story is predetermined from the other games."

“I still want to know what happened in Blackwater,” mlrose222 declared.

“I'd have it with the events leading up to the Blackwater Massacre so we are introduced to Mac and Jenny and we can see what happened,” replied LeNateDiamond.

At the time of writing, we have no idea when Red Dead Redemption 3 will arrive for sure but if it does, it will most definitely be after GTA VI.