red dead quickdrawI loved Red Dead Redemption, and spent quite a lot of time immersed in its expansive, beautifully conceived world of rolling mountains, lush canyons and seedy saloons (plus a bit more time in the same world, but with added zombies). I thought everything about the game, from the mechanics to the storyline, bordered on the superlative, and thought the fact that you got to be a bad-ass whilst wearing a freakin’ Stetson, was the perfect icing on an already delicious cake. Indeed, as somebody who grew up watching westerns, the game was an opportunity for me to indulge my childhood fantasy of being the “fastest gun in the West”, and allowed me ample scope to do my (pretty shitty) Clint Eastwood impressions, without, you know, actually getting shot and stuff.

Imagine my glee, then, when Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick recently let slip that we might be getting another chance to strap on our spurs, and gallop back into that world once again, or at least one very similar to it. In his presentation at the Cowen and Company analyst conference, Zelnick said:

“It’s obvious that GTA is a permanent franchise as long as we keep delivering this incredible quality; it seems quite obvious that Red Dead is a permanent franchise, again with the same caveat, or Borderlands, for example, and NBA and others.”

Red Dead sunsetNow, that’s not quite confirmation of a new Red Dead game, admittedly, but the term “permanent franchise” would strongly suggest more than two games, right!? And given that there’s currently only two, I’ma go right ahead and get my chewing tabaccy, leather waistcoat and six-shooters ready anyway, just in case!!

And, as you would expect, I’ll be watching this closely, so keep it here for news and/or information on all things cowboy.

Yee, and indeed, haw…….