A new theory by YouTuber Strange Man raises the possibility that a tease for the next Rockstar game, presumably Grand Theft Auto VI, was in Red Dead Redemption 2 under our noses the whole time. If true, it continues to point to the next game in the series being set in Vice City, as so many other rumors have suggested.
Strange Man says the tease this time around comes in the form of a point of interest in New Austin. Players can find the skeletal remains of a Jesuit Missionary, who carries with him a letter for a Brother Rodolfo (presumably the person to whom the remains belong). The letter says that Brother Rodolfo left to go east, away from a mission in California, while the letter writer, Cardinal Blanco, attempted to talk him out of it. In-game, this little tidbit never goes anywhere; John, the only person who can find the body, writes in his journal about being chilled by it, but nothing else ever comes of the note.
According to Strange Man, this letter is a coded letter from Dan Houser to Sam Houser, imploring him to not “travel east,” meaning go work on GTA VI, but to continue working on GTA Online. The YouTuber backs this up with some evidence, including an easter egg in the first RDR game that seemed to also be a clear tease for GTA V.
The whole theory isn’t entirely convincing, and relies a little on assumptions in some places — and I’m still not entirely sure I buy that this letter is supposed to be a semi-public plea from one Houser to another. But it’s an attractive theory, and it does dovetail with other theories that suggest the setting of the next GTA game will be in Vice City, supposedly based on the eastern city of Miami. So whether it’s entirely what Strange Man believes it to be, it’s still fun to add it to the pile of GTA VI speculation.