Red Dead Redemption 2 will be free by the end of the year, leak claims

Red Dead Redemption 2 is a masterpiece of storytelling, a prequel the likes of which we'll probably not see for another decade at least. With Rockstar's decade-long development cycles now normalized, any rumblings of a threequel won't rear their heads and aim their pistols until my toddler has left school. If, for some strange reason, you've not played the lauded second instalment of the cowboy simulator, leaks suggest that you're in luck, as the game will be available for free before the year is out.

A leak claims that Red Dead Redemption 2 will be the crowning glory of the Epic Games Store's free games Christmas event this year, where it expands its usual weekly offerings to daily gifts over the festive period. Last year's freebies included the likes of Control, Ghostrunner 2, and ended on the high of intense martial arts fighter Sifu. But this year, we could be getting one of the best open-world games ever made.

According to leaker @9550pro on Twitter, Hogwarts Legacy will be followed by Jurassic World: Evolution 2, cycle through a dozen other games including Total War: Warhammer, Terraria, and Mortal Kombat 11, before landing at the feet of Red Dead Redemption 2 to end the year.

The leak allegedly comes from Chinese messaging app QQ, which is owned by Tencent. You can see the leaked list below, as well as Google's machine translation of it. You can work out the mistranslations easily enough.

If you haven't played Red Dead Redemption 2 before now, it's time to change that. As a prequel, you don't even need to have played the first game (and some people prefer to play them in reverse order), but I'd recommend picking it up, too.

Fans are currently debating whether or not the leak is real, so as always with anything unconfirmed by official sources, take this with a large pinch of salt. I'd say it looks believable enough up until the last few games, but time will tell if it's proved right. If we do indeed get Red Dead Redemption 2 as a New Year's treat, I'll be pleasantly surprised.