It looks like we might have a plastic instrument revival on our hands.
Just days after a Bloomberg report indicated a new Rock Band game to be in the works for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, video game news site Kotaku U.K. is reporting that a new Guitar Hero game is also on the way. Better yet, it will (supposedly) release this year.
According to the report, the game will be announced in June during E3 and released later in the year. Unlike the cartoony style of previous games in the series, this new Guitar Hero will feature more "realistic graphics." The game is said to be in development for Xbox One and PlayStation 4, with new guitar peripherals also being developed for the game. Longtime developers of Guitar Hero, RedOctane and Neversoft, are no longer around, so it is currently unknown which game studio is working on the project.
Here is Activision's official response to the rumor, as provided to Kotaku:
"We don't comment on rumour or speculation, but have previously said, that as one of the most beloved entertainment franchises, we would only bring Guitar Hero back if we developed the right innovations to usher the franchise into the new generation of gaming."
What those new innovations might be is up in the air, but it does seem like the time is right for a new installment. The last entry in the franchise, Warriors of Rock, released in 2010. For a brief moment Guitar Hero and Rock Band were both kings of the world, riding high on giant piles of cash with near-yearly installments, spin-off games and DLC song packs that customers seemingly couldn't get enough of.
But it didn't last long. By 2011, both game series were dead in the water and went into retirement. A new generation of consoles is the perfect opportunity for a comeback, and all signs are pointing towards it happening soon.
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