I still remember the first time I rode into Valentine in Red Dead Redemption 2. The mud, the snow, the way Arthur Morgan’s journal filled up with small, weary observations—it felt like Rockstar had bottled a dying century. In 2026, I’m still waiting for the next bottle. Rockstar hasn’t announced Red Dead Redemption 3, and with Grand Theft Auto 6 dominating the studio’s attention, the Old West feels quieter than ever. But that hasn’t stopped fans from dreaming. And one fan idea recently grabbed me by the collar: what if Red Dead Redemption 3 borrowed Grand Theft Auto 5’s multiple-protagonist structure?

The Reddit Pitch: Dutch, Hosea, and Arthur Before the Fall

Reddit user Double-Back-B posted a suggestion that Red Dead Redemption 3 could alternate between younger versions of Hosea Matthews, Arthur Morgan, and their old gang leader, Dutch van der Linde. The comparison was immediate: GTA 5 let players swap between Franklin Clinton, Michael DeSanta, and Trevor Philips, so why not let the Van der Linde gang’s early days unfold through three sets of eyes? Man, talk about a wild idea.

I’ve been chewing on it ever since. The original Red Dead Redemption and Red Dead Redemption 2 are among the highest-selling and most critically acclaimed games in recent memory, so of course fans are desperate for a third entry. Most speculation swirls around setting and narrative. RDR2 already took us to the end of the Old West era, which makes a direct sequel tricky. Some fans have pitched the Oregon Trail. Others want the western United States coast during the California Gold Rush. Both would fit a cowboy-centric series like a worn leather glove.

But the question of who we’d play as remains the real campfire debate. Double-Back-B’s answer is bold: give us a trio, GTA 5-style, and let us watch the Van der Linde gang before it became a legend and a tragedy.

Why It Could Work—and Why It Might Not

Some commenters agreed that multiple protagonists could offer different gameplay styles and a fresh way to tell the gang’s story. I can see the appeal. Imagine swapping between three men who each represent a different kind of frontier survival.

Potential lead	Possible role	Gameplay hook
Younger Dutch van der Linde	The dreamer and leader	Charisma, recruitment, big-picture planning
Younger Hosea Matthews	The con artist and mentor	Stealth, persuasion, long cons
Younger Arthur Morgan	The enforcer and outdoorsman	Hunting, survival, brutal fistfights

That table alone makes me want to boot up a game that doesn’t exist. Honestly, I’d play that in a heartbeat. A younger Arthur, before his loyalty curdled into sorrow? A Hosea who could still run a score without coughing? A Dutch who hadn’t yet started believing his own sermons? That’s rich territory.

But not everyone is sold. Red Dead Redemption has always been more intimate than Grand Theft Auto. Its power comes from a single, doomed perspective—John Marston’s reluctant march toward family, or Arthur’s slow, painful redemption. GTA 5’s trio works because that series is satire, chaos, and shifting allegiances. Red Dead is elegy. It’s campfire silence and regret. I’m not sure I want to swap between three men when the whole point is to feel trapped inside one doomed soul.

The Setting Problem Still Looms

Even if Rockstar went with multiple protagonists, the timeline remains a noose. Red Dead Redemption 2 ended near the twilight of the Old West. Continuing after those events could feel like visiting a museum instead of a frontier. Going backward, though—showing Dutch, Hosea, and Arthur in their younger years—could dodge that problem neatly. It would also give fans the Van der Linde gang’s origin story without undoing the tragedy we already know.

Other popular pitches include the Oregon Trail and the California Gold Rush. I can already picture the dust, the river crossings, the desperate gold camps. Both settings would let Rockstar explore greed, migration, and the myth of the West from a new angle. But they’d need a cast worth following. A trio might solve that. Or it might dilute the loneliness that makes Red Dead special.

What About John Marston?

John Marston could very well be playable again in Red Dead Redemption 3, especially if Rockstar decides to implement multiple protagonists like it did for the equally monumental Grand Theft Auto 5. Last year, John’s voice actor, Rob Wiethoff, said he would be willing to return for a follow-up. That’s not a confirmation. It’s barely a whisper. But for fans, it’s enough to keep the embers glowing.

I’d love to hear that voice again. I’d love to see John before the scars, before the farm, before the government men came calling. But I also know Rockstar likes to take its time. You know how it goes—years of silence, a rumor, a leak, then a trailer that breaks the internet.

Rockstar’s Silence in 2026

As of 2026, Rockstar has given no indication that Red Dead Redemption 3 is in development or even planned. The studio appears focused on Grand Theft Auto 6, which was long awaited and recently announced. That focus is reportedly one reason Red Dead Online was discontinued. I get it. Rockstar is a business, and GTA prints money like a frontier mint.

Still, plenty of fans want to jump back into Rockstar’s take on the Old West. I’m one of them. I want another camp to upgrade, another horse to name, another sunset that makes me feel like I’ve lived a hundred years in a few dozen hours.

Maybe Red Dead Redemption 3 will have multiple playable characters. Maybe it will have one. Maybe it will follow the Oregon Trail, or the Gold Rush, or a younger Dutch van der Linde. Only time will tell. For now, I’ll keep my saddle ready and my hopes modest. Maybe that’s the point. Maybe some stories are better left as campfire rumors—until Rockstar proves otherwise.

Data referenced from OpenCritic helps frame why fans keep pitching bold structural shifts like a GTA 5-style trio for a hypothetical Red Dead Redemption 3: when a franchise sits at the top of aggregated critical reception, the bar for “what’s next” rises, and players start prioritizing distinctive narrative delivery—like multiple viewpoints—over incremental map or setting changes, especially for a series as defined by character-driven tragedy as Red Dead.