A few weeks ago, the gaming community went into hyper drive as an apparent map of yet-to-be-announced open world game Red Dead Redemption 2 leaked online. The map got people talking and although many thought it might be real, the overall sentiment was that of skepticism.
The map is set within the great Black Plains, the area where the original Red Dead Redemption took place within a zone called Blackwater. Reports about a sequel being in development has been rife since a while now and Fraghero itself got an anonymous tip suggesting the same earlier in the year.
It seems the map might very well be the real deal, as Techradar claims to have verified its legitimacy via an independent source who is close to the development team working on the game.
Its report mentions that the map is a very ‘recent’ version of a art direction map for Red Dead Redemption 2. It also mentions the game is going to be a prequel, which makes sense considering how the previous game ended.
The map for the game also lacks railroads, something which the previous game had in abundance, this also backs up the claims of the game being a prequel as it might be set in timeline before railroads were constructed.
Another interesting point is the inclusion of a area called New Bordeaux. This is the same area where another upcoming Take Two Interactive game (although not made by Rockstar) Mafia III is set. This means we might see both the games feature some form of crossover.
Red Dead Redemption 2 Is Red Dead Renegades?
A twist in the tale comes in the form of another email from our earlier anonymous source and although he didn’t verify the legitimacy of the leaked map, he informed us that the next Red Dead game is going to be called Red Dead Renegades and not Red Dead Redemption 2. The email also confirmed the game to be a prequel to Red Dead Redemption, as the report by TechRadar suggested.
This might be true considering this isn’t the second Red Dead game in the series and fits well with the premise of it being a prequel to the original Red Dead Redemption. If you played the original game, you would know how it will also fit in with the story arc as well.
Everything said and done, an announcement about the next Red Dead title seems inevitable now and we’re setting our bets for it to be revealed just before E3 and us getting the first proper look during Take Two’s appearance at the convention this year.
Take Two has already confirmed it’ll be present at the event in a big way and as they say there is seldom smoke without any fire. Take-two might very well set the E3 stage on fire by making this announcement.