Red Dead Redemption 2. A sprawling and enchanting reconstruction of the American Frontier in its twilight years. It's filled to the brim with treasures, stories and emergent events, and one player thinks they've found a reference to Grand Theft Auto 6.
Following an eye-opening report on the culture of crunch at Rockstar Games, the studio has reeled in its intensive and expansive approach to development. "It's like there's an operation to get rid of bad eggs," said an employee after the release of Red Dead Redemption 2. "There are still bad eggs around, don't get me wrong, but it feels like their days are numbered." Furthermore, it is said that higher-ups continually underscored the importance of mental and physical health while the teams worked remotely owing to the pandemic. These factors are part of the reason why we've not seen a new game from Rockstar Games in years and why we likely won't for some more.
Check out this compilation of side-splitting capers from Red Dead Redemption 2's community. This probably isn't what Dutch meant when he said he had a "goddamn plan."
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In fact, the theory goes that the next Grand Theft Auto game won't come out until 2025. That little tidbit won't stop the fervent fans from ferreting out every possible reference to Grand Theft Auto 6, from photos of beaches to map leaks and even pencil drawings of the protagonists. And now, YouTuber Strange Man is certain they've found a letter in Red Dead Redemption 2 that lets us in on the status of Grand Theft Auto 6 at Rockstar Games between the years of 2016 and 2018.
Southwest of Gaptooth Breach, there's a skeleton of a Jesuit missionary hunched over a rock. Looting the corpse gives Arthur a letter from Cardinal Blanco to Brother Rodolfo. Strange Man reckons these two characters are intended to symbolise Dan Houser and Sam Houser. The former, of course, departed Rockstar Games two years ago and has since started his own company.
Cardinal Blanco pleads with Brother Rodolfo to stop travelling east and remain in California. Los Santos is a representation of Los Angeles and a lot of leaks posit that the next Grand Theft Auto game will be set in Vice City which is based on Miami. "Sometimes, politics and the ways of the Church are not as pure as perhaps you wish they were. The world is the world of men. Yes, you say, God has given it to us, but we must live in the world as it is, amongst men, some of who are both very powerful and not entirely receptive to our message," says Cardinal Blanco, and Strange Man suggests that this is an inside joke between Dan and Sam Houser about Take-Two Interactive's emphasis on supporting the lucrative Grand Theft Auto Online.
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In this request for Brother Rodolfo to stay with the mission in California, the YouTuber reckons it is a symbol of Dan asking Sam to focus on Grand Theft Auto 5 and Online for the "survival" of the studio. This is definitely an interesting interpretation and Rockstar Games is known for hiding hints to its next projects in their current games. However, Dan and Sam are private individuals and I'm not sure that I buy the theory that they would give away information like this even in the guise of an in-game letter. We'll have to wait and see, I suppose.
Featured Image Credit: Rockstar GamesTopics: Rockstar Games, News, Red Dead Redemption, GTA 6, Grand Theft Auto