Every sinceRed Dead Redemption 2released back in 2018, fans have held out hope that Rockstar would release a DLC sequel to theRed Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmareadd-on.Undead Nightmarewas an extremely successful DLC which took place in an alternate canon where John Marston’s family is infected by a zombie plague. He then sets out in search of a cure while avoiding the undead horde and old friends and foes.
Unfortunately for manyRed Deadfans, hopes of a sequel toUndead Nightmaremay as well be laid to rest. With Rockstar releasing more DLC and zombies even added to the game for a separate event without apparent plans for a sequel to the add-on, there are a few key reasons fans shouldn’t keep their hopes up for a return toUndead NightmareinRed Dead Redemption 2.
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Red Dead Redemptionreleased in May 2010, andRed Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmareadded a new story campaign just five months later in October of the same year. For comparison,Red Dead Redemption 2was released in October of 2018, around two years ago, and there has been no confirmation that Rockstar is working on a sequel toUndead Nightmare.
While theRed Dead Redemption 2community is still going strong, Rockstar is mostly focused on creatingupdates forRed Dead Online. It is possible that the studio has missed the boat on adding story DLCs at this point already, with most discussion about the game’s acclaimed single player story already long passed.
Zombies are included as part ofRed Dead Online’s upcoming Fear of the Dark eventfor Halloween, with hunters facing down Night Stalkers in the new update. However, the models made for the zombies are specific to the event, and while it appears that Rockstar was hoping to satiate calls forUndead Nightmare 2with the Halloween reference, it doesn’t not seem likely that Rockstar is setting up the models for use in any new single-player campaign.
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A new DLC set in theUndead Nightmaretimeline wouldn’t really make sense forRed Dead Redemption 2as a prequel. The main action ofUndead Nightmaretakes place in 1911 when an Aztec mask is stolen, releasing the zombie curse.John Marstonis able to undo the curse, curing his family, but then the main events ofRed Deadoccur as normal. InUndead Nightmare, however, John gets to return from the dead as a revenant, a zombie with a soul.
Red Dead Redemption 2is a prequel, and fans would likely want to see a similar zombie plot play out withArthur Morganthis time instead of John. There isn’t a clear way to make anUndead Nightmare 2that is part of the same non-canon continuity as the originalUndead Nightmarewithout it seeming strange that John didn’t know about the zombie outbreak faced by Arthur a few years prior.
An easy solution to this would be to haveUndead Nightmare 2take place in its own isolated non-canon continuity, but then the game would risk feeling like it too closely emulated the firstUndead Nightmare. It seems likely thatRockstar Gameswas happy with the first add-on, the story it allowed the company to tell, and the setting it played with, and doesn’t want to risk its legacy with a sequel.
That said,Rockstar’s next gameis reportedly a long way off. It is possible thatRed Dead Onlinehas givenRed Dead 2the longevity necessary to justify the release ofUndead Nightmareat this stage, or that it might be a good project for the developer to work on during quarantine. After two years, however, most fans will have given up hope forUndead Nightmare 2.
Red Dead Redemption 2is available now on PC, PS4, Stadia, and Xbox One.
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