Grand Theft Auto 6 Screenshot Might Be Hiding A Red Dead Redemption 2 Reference

Summary

New GTA 6 screenshots appear to include some Red Dead Redemption easter eggs.
On the $10 and $1 bills, you can make out President Thaddeus Waxman and Franklin Hardin.
Some are taking this as further evidence that the two series are connected, but others aren’t convinced.

Yesterday, Rockstar didn’t just share a new GTA 6 trailer completely out of the blue, but also a bunch of never-before-seen screenshots. There’s plenty for fans to spend the next year poring over, no doubt to cook up some inane, outlandish theories, but already, they’ve found a couple of fun little homages to Red Dead Redemption 2, furthering the idea that the two series are connected.

As pointed out by u/cph2001 on the game’s subreddit, in a strip club scene, where dollar bills are flying around, and characters are holding wads of cash, you can make out what looks to be two Red Dead presidents on the $10 and $1 bills — Thaddeus Waxman and Franklin Hardin.

Hardin also appeared on a $100 banknote in a GTA Online poster.

It seems to indicate the two series share fictional presidents, but then again, the bills also say “United States of Paranoia”, so do with that what you will.

It’s Not The First Time That GTA Has Referenced Red Dead

There’ll no doubt be even more references to find when we finally get around to playing GTA 6, but there’s plenty to unpack in GTA 5 and Online already. In the base game, you can find a ‘Red Dead’ book on Franklin’s shelf, penned by J. Marston, which many fans speculate is an account of John’s life from his son Jack. You can also find Dutch van der Linde’s pistol in GTA Online as part of a lost treasure hunt, and Madam Nazar even appears as a fortune-telling machine.

In the first HD game, GTA 4, you can see Red Dead Revolver story missions used in the Spittoon TV show.

It’s hard to fault fans who subscribe to the theory that these universes are connected. But not everyone is convinced. As several players have pointed out, Red Dead Redemption references New York, Manhattan, and California, rather than Liberty City, Algonquin, and San Andreas, suggesting it follows our real-world history more closely than the alternate GTA one.

In all likelihood, these are just fun easter eggs, but there are enough breadcrumbs if you want to headcanon that Arthur Morgan is your great grandaddy in GTA Online.