The original developer of Guitar Hero, which once sparked a craze for "plastic musical instruments" in living rooms, is back! After being shut down by Activision for over a decade, they've risen from the ashes.RedOctane GamesThe first trailer for the new music rhythm game "Stage Tour" was released earlier, revealing that the game will rekindle players' rock 'n' roll spirit later this year through a continuously updated "Live Service" mode.
For many veteran gamers, the name RedOctane Games is certainly familiar. In 2006, they partnered with Harmonix to create the original Guitar Hero, laying the foundation for modern music rhythm games. Although the studio was subsequently acquired by Activision and quietly closed down in 2010, they recently officially reorganized with the support of Embracer Freemode, and are launching a brand new IP.Stage TourAnnouncing their return.
Multi-controller support, physical guitar included in the bundle is a must.
According to official information, Stage Tour will maintain the classic band battle spirit, supporting solo play or playing with friends.
In terms of control devices, in addition to the core physical accessories such as the guitar, drum kit, and microphone, the game will also natively support keyboard and mouse input to cater to the habits of modern players. Although Stage Tour will primarily be released digitally, RedOctane Games emphasized that they very much hope to release a bundle that includes a physical guitar controller and a game download code, because for this type of game, "that's the right configuration."
It's worth mentioning that Embracer Freemode, the current parent company of RedOctane Games, owns the well-known video game peripheral brand CRKD. This company has extensive experience in creating controllers specifically for rhythm games, which undoubtedly provides the strongest hardware support for the future development of physical instruments for Stage Tour.
Abandoning traditional DLC, it borrows the operational model from Fortnite.
In terms of the frequency of game content updates, Stage Tour will adopt a completely different strategy from previous Guitar Hero or Rock Band games.
In the past, games of this type have mostly relied on buy-to-play fixed song lists or paid song DLC, but RedOctane Games has clearly been inspired by Epic Games' Fortnite Festival. The official team stated, "Our plan is to launch regular special events, which is not just about releasing new songs. We will have real events, real themes, and substantial updates. We hope to evolve, expand, and keep the game alive together with the fans who support it."
Gathering industry resources, testing is expected to begin in early summer.
The development team for Stage Tour is also quite strong. In addition to RedOctane Games taking the lead, Eidos Montréal, the developer of Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, will assist with motion capture and quality control (QA), and Third Kind Games will provide additional development technical support.
The official announcement has been made that registration for the Alpha test will be opened soon, and the Closed Alpha test is planned to be officially launched in late spring or early summer this year.
