“It started out as direct companion piece to Red Dead Redemption, so the story was the first aspect we looked at. We wanted to tell the story of the gang that John alludes to in the first game,” he says.

Early on in the demo, a well-dressed man, replete with a bowler-hat, watch chain and waistcoat wanders into view, and it is only after he speaks in a disarmingly soft drawl that I realise this is Dutch, the leader of the gang – and the main antagonist in Red Dead Redemption. He is a long way from the wild-haired man-of-the-mountain he was in the first game, but he has the same world view. Even though the law and civilisation is closing in on his family and way of life, Dutch isn’t giving up.

“I ain’t losing to these fools,” he says. “Arthur, you know me better than that.”

In Red Dead Redemption, the Wild West party was over. In Red Dead Redemption 2, the party is coming to a close, a fact Dutch simply will not accept.

“Dutch was the thread that pulled players through the first game, so we wanted to explore how he went from a gang leader to the wild-haired guy players saw in the first game,” says Nelson.