Stage Tour, the Spiritual Successor to Guitar Hero, Launches Dec 10

RedOctane announced that its long‑awaited rhythm game Stage Tour, billed as the spiritual successor to Guitar Hero, will be released on 10 December 2023 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch. The title will launch with a base soundtrack of more than 90 tracks, including Ghost’s ‘Square Hammer’, and will support existing instrument controllers as well as new peripherals. The original Guitar Hero franchise entered an indefinite hiatus after the 2015 release of Guitar Hero Live, leaving fans without a new entry for eight years. In 2022, former RedOctane developers announced the revival of the studio and confirmed work on a brand‑new rhythm title. "This game won’t be Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, Guitar Freaks or Rock Band . This is something new," the team wrote in a statement at the time. Stage Tour’s soundtrack has been revealed incrementally, and the company disclosed that the base list exceeds 90 songs. Confirmed tracks span multiple genres, from BABYMETAL & Electric Callboy’s ‘RATATATA’ to Extreme’s ‘Get The Funk Out’, Ghost’s ‘Square Hammer’, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ ‘Dani California’, Weezer’s ‘Island In The Sun’, and Slipknot’s ‘Psychosocial’. Additional titles from Olivia Rodrigo, Blink‑182, Metallica and others remain unannounced. The game will be available for a standard price of £49.99, while hardware bundles are also offered. A copy of Stage Tour paired with a Kramer wireless guitar controller costs £119.99; a two‑guitar bundle is £179.99; and the full Band bundle—including guitar, drums and microphone—retails for £269.99. Pre‑orders opened on the RedOctane website and are currently live. Stage Tour supports several existing instrument controllers, but RedOctane also released new peripherals compatible with all platforms. The title introduces an “all‑new roguelite Tour Mode”, where each run generates fresh choices, challenges and opportunities for the player’s band, promising high replay value. Multiplayer options allow solo play or cooperative sessions with friends. Stage Tour arrives at a moment when rhythm games are experiencing a modest resurgence, driven by nostalgia and innovative gameplay twists. For Ghost fans, the inclusion of ‘Square Hammer’ marks the band’s continued presence in video‑game soundtracks, following previous appearances in titles such as Rock Band 4. Industry analysts anticipate that Stage Tour could re‑energize the genre and set a new benchmark for future releases, while also expanding the audience for the featured artists.