“Then Tim said something that changed everything: ‘There’s clearly still an audience. Fans still love these games. Just start by making a guitar’”: There’s a sequel to Guitar Hero on the way

Remember Guitar Hero? Of course you do. The Noughties video game inspired a generation of kids to pick up a proper guitar and arguably helped keep rock’s profile high during an era when it was commercially flagging.

Anyway, there is apparently a new, similar game on the way from the Guitar Hero makers. It’s called Stage Tour and its creators, RedOctane, who are now called RedOctane Games – have written a blog post about their decision to re-enter the music games fray. You can read it here.

“A few years ago, a few of us reconnected,” they write. “We had a question: could we, and more importantly should we try to make a new music rhythm game?”

“We schemed, got excited, and probably overthought a bunch of things. We asked: how could we do this differently? How should we do it? Should we even attempt to do it?”

But - as they explain - when the games industry hit a rough patch, they paused work on the idea.

“Then Tim (Clark, one of the firm’s developers) said something that changed everything: ‘There’s clearly still an audience. Fans still love these games. Just start by making a guitar.’”

STAGE TOUR • Official Game Reveal - YouTube

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And so they did. The new controller is inspired by Kramer, a brand owned by Gibson - indeed, RedOctane has already inked a deal. It’s got coloured buttons on the fretboard and, like the Guitar Hero controllers, a whammy bar.

“With new instruments and deep charting systems, we’re raising the bar on what we believe a rhythm game can be, while also catering to those wishing to simply enjoy a casual experience and have a good time,” RedOctane said in a statement.

Alpha testing for Stage Tour is said to start this summer with a release date pencilled in for the autumn. There’s no news yet on which songs have been licensed for the game, but given the success of Guitar Hero, RedOctane really shouldn’t find it a problem filling the game with rock anthems.

“This game won’t be Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, Guitar Freaks or Rockband,” RedOctane promised in that blog post.

“This is something new. A rhythm game built with love, by people who care, with the community at its core in this fast-changing modern world we live in. We firmly believe the expert here is the community and a new generation of development talent, the folks that have kept the lights on these last few years.”