Fans of Red Dead Redemption 3 are split over a simple question with franchise-level consequences: return to Arthur Morgan, Dutch Van Der Linde, and Hosea at the start of the gang, or leave them behind for a new cast. The debate has sharpened because Red Dead Redemption 2 is the third-highest selling video game of all time, which makes the next installment a bigger business decision than a normal sequel.
Arthur Morgan, Dutch, Hosea
One camp wants a prequel that goes back to the early days of Arthur, Dutch, and Hosea before the gang fully forms. In that version, players would slip on Arthur’s black gambler’s hat again, only earlier in the timeline, and some fans would rather play as a younger Arthur being mentored by Dutch.
Others want Dutch himself in his youth. One Redditor went further and sketched an origin story for the entire gang, starting with Dutch after he loses his daddy in the war and using missions to introduce everyone across different locations. That same idea called for a whole new map and said it would be three times the size of Red Dead Redemption 2.
Blackwater ferry heist
The cleanest argument against another Van Der Linde prequel is story fatigue. Some fans say Dutch’s gang already told the story it needed to tell, and they would rather see a different protagonist, a different gang, and new characters far removed from Arthur and Dutch.
That split also explains why some fans are pushing a completely new era, including the Klondike Gold Rush, while others want to continue the adventures of Sadie Adler in Mexico. The Blackwater ferry heist sits in the middle of that debate because the article treats it as something that works better when it stays off-screen and remains a story people talk about rather than watch play out.
Grand Theft Auto 6
Grand Theft Auto 6 is the other reason this discussion feels urgent now. Attention is expected to swing back to Rockstar Games and the Red Dead Redemption franchise after that release, which leaves any new Red Dead Redemption game a few years away.
For fans, that means the real decision is not whether Red Dead Redemption 3 should exist — it almost certainly will command attention when it arrives — but whether Rockstar Games doubles down on the Van Der Linde origin story or uses the gap to reset the series with a fresh era and a new crew. My read: the cleaner move is a new cast, because the franchise already has enough mythology to keep Arthur, Dutch, and Hosea powerful without reopening every door.
