Update October 17, 2016: That’s confirmation if you’ll ever get it. A new image has been shown on the Rockstar Twitter page, this time with Red Dead’s signature black-on-red and a cast of characters.

Hype train well and truly moving at speed. Red Dead Redemption 2 is all but announced-and-trailered thanks to the Rockstar Twitter page posting the above image.

We won’t turn our nose up at a sequel to one of the best open-world games around.

Here’s the tweet:

In case you’re wondering just how many eyes are on this project already, it got about 5,000 retweets and nearly 6,000 likes in seven minutes, and nearly a thousand within the first. Yesterday’s teaser is currently sitting at six figures for both. People are excited. All that’s left is a proper announcement, and we can presumably expect more daily this week.

This larger shot of the cast was also found on the Rockstar site, via NeoGAF:

That looks like a whole buncha dudes to me, so those hoping for a lady-led Rockstar game may have to wait for the next GTA. Second from the left inspires the most debate, though we’re down to judging purely on hairstyle and pose, so maybe it’s best to stop now. Those in the know suggest the guy in the middle might be John Marston, protagonist of the first game, and those around him his crew from earlier days – could be the first official signs of a prequel.

Original story October 16, 2016:Rockstar Games has painted the landing page of their website red to tease an upcoming Red Dead Redemption announcement with a trailer rumoured for next week.

The site painted itself red with a subtle distressed texture, similar to the cover art for Rockstar’s Wild West open-world cult favourite, at 2pm on Sunday, with the official Twitter account following suit with the same image.

Red Dead Redemption 2 has been on the lips of many a furtive whisper in the past year, with anonymous emails tipping its arrival for next year with the sub-title “Legends of the West”.

The teaser image itself is actually a news post on the site, so if that doesn’t tell you this isn’t a joke then we’re fresh out of convincing. Obviously it could just be a remaster for one of those newfangled consoles, but we live in a dark timeline of history so what’s a little hope going to do, eh?

We’ll update you in the week when there’s more than just a studio’s logo on a stylishly crimson background.