The studio responsible for the original Guitar Hero, RedOctane Games, has recently announced its comeback after 15 years. With over 25 million units sold, the Guitar Hero franchise was arguably one of the most popular rhythm series ever made, and many veteran gamers will likely be happy to see the return of the studio that started it.
Originally focused on creating game accessories for popular rhythm games, RedOctane Games was started by Kai and Charles Huang in 1999. The company gained prominence in 2005 with the release of the first Guitar Hero, which became a huge hit. Soon after the release of Guitar Hero 2 in 2006, RedOctane was acquired by Activision, where it collaborated with Neversoft on the franchise. In 2010, Activision shut down RedOctane.
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Now, RedOctane has been revived after 15 years, with Simon Ebejer as the studio’s head. Ebejer has previously worked on Guitar Hero while at Neversoft, and founders Kai and Charles Huang are said to be on the “special advisory board” of the company. It has been confirmed in a blog post, however, that RedOctane’s next game will not be Guitar Hero, but “something new,” which makes sense considering the studio does not own the IP.
Not much is officially known about the upcoming game, however, except that it will be a rhythm game likely inspired by Guitar Hero. Peripherals are not guaranteed, but considering RedOctane’s expertise with them, it would not be surprising to see the game employing them. The title also does not have an official release date, so gamers should wait for more information before getting too excited.
Despite Guitar Hero not having an official mainline game in a decade after the release of Guitar Hero Live in 2015, it’s fair to say that the series is still very popular. Earlier this year, for example, the franchise was in the spotlight after a Twitch streamer passed out while playing Through the Fire and Flames on Guitar Hero during a 200% speed challenge.
A few months ago, the Guitar Hero franchise also appeared in the middle of a controversy, as a Guitar Hero mobile ad made with AI enraged some gamers. However, it was soon revealed that the game teased by the ads did not exist, and it was only part of a market research campaign by Activision to test the franchise’s popularity. Hopefully, RedOctane will be able to deliver a proper game that will help long-time fans scratch the itch for a Guitar Hero-inspired title.
- Released
- November 1, 2005
- ESRB
- t // Mild Lyrics
- Developer(s)
- Harmonix
- Publisher(s)
- RedOctane
- Multiplayer
- Local Multiplayer
- Franchise
- Guitar Hero
- Genre(s)
- Music
