ROCKSTAR may be about to unveil Red Dead Redemption 2.
The game maker is promising a brand new hit title early next year.
But it won't say what that game is just yet. Fans are at fever pitch that they will finally get a sequel to the highly rated 2010 cowboy game.
Red Dead wowed critics and gamers alike with its open-world gunfights and horse riding shenanigans.
And many felt that the story of cowboy John Marston is among the best ever captured in a video game.
Parent company Take-Two revealed this week in a financial statement that Rockstar Games is beavering away on something special.
The game remains officially "unannounced" but will appear in shops before March 2015, maybe even late this year.
And the Grand Theft Auto hit makers are confident of mega sales.
They reckon Rockstar's work will account for 45% of the firm's total revenue alone in 2015.
The Red Dead sequel rumours have been fueled by a recent ambiguous compatibility listing on PC.
The Windows listing for popular devices that would work with a Red Dead game suggests a port of the originial console title might be making its way over to PCs after four years.
But many believe it would be a bit unusual for a firm to suddenly put out a new version of a four-year old game.
And suggestions have turned to connections with a potential Red Dead 2, which some insiders are calling Red Dead Rebellion.
“It's been our goal not just to preserve and grow the Grand Theft Auto franchise, but also to build others that we think can be permanent, like Red Dead ”
Strauss Zelnick boss of Take-Two
Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick said last year that the group aimed to make the Red Dead series one of Rockstar's "permanent franchises".
He said: "Outside of our business you can look at James Bond, for example.
"And it's been our goal not just to preserve and grow the Grand Theft Auto franchise, but also to build other franchises that we think can be permanent, whether that's the Red Dead franchise or the Borderlands franchise or the BioShock franchise or others, Civilization for example."
Red Dead franchise sales topped 13 million units within a couple of years of the original game, including Redemption's standalone add-on Undead Nightmare and PS2 and Xbox release Red Dead Revolver.
He said: "Rumour has it that the game won’t be called Red Dead Redemption 2, but until we have concrete confirmation of the official name, we’re calling it RDR2 for now.
"Although there’s been no official word from Rockstar Games as to when the next installation in the Red Dead series will arrive, at least we know it is a case of when and not if.
"Back in 2012, Rockstar confirmed it wasn’t totally finished with the Red Dead franchise and had plans to release a new installation in the future."
Colin Sebastian, an analyst at Baird Equity Research, believed Red Dead Redemption 2 will be announced by the end of 2014, along with the GTA 5 PC edition. "Take Two continues to produce some of the highest-quality console and PC games, which we believe should transition well on next-gen platforms," he said.
"We expect product announcements over the next year such as extending GTA V to other platforms (e.g. PCs, next-gen consoles), the next Red Dead, etc., to help improve revenue and earnings visibility.
"We also believe the next Red Dead game is in the works potentially for a 2014 launch."
