Guitar Hero, why is it over?
Guitar Hero was one of the most popular and influential games of the 2000s. The game allowed players to simulate the performance of rock songs using guitar-shaped controllers, drums and microphone. The game was a critical and commercial success, selling over 25 million units and receiving praise for its addictive gameplay, varied soundtrack and online mode.
However, what happened to Guitar Hero ? Why did the game stop being produced and released after 2011? What were the factors that led to the decline and end of the franchise? In this article, we’ll try to answer those questions by looking at Guitar Hero ‘s history, challenges, and perspectives .
The History of Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero was created by Harmonix , a company specializing in music games, in partnership with RedOctane , a company that manufactured gaming peripherals. The first game in the series was released in 2005 for the PlayStation 2 , and was inspired by earlier Harmonix games such as Frequency and Amplitude, which used colored buttons to represent musical notes.
The game was an immediate success, receiving positive reviews and selling over a million copies in the United States. The game also caught the attention of celebrities, such as Slash , Tom Morello , and Ozzy Osbourne , who participated as playable characters or licensed their music for sequels.
Harmonix and RedOctane were acquired by different companies in 2006: Harmonix by MTV Games , and RedOctane by Activision . This led to a split in the franchise: Harmonix continued to develop music games under the Rock Band brand, while Activision hired Neversoft to develop the Guitar Hero games .
As of 2007, Guitar Hero has become one of the most profitable franchises in the gaming industry, generating billions of dollars in revenue. The series has expanded to multiple platforms such as Xbox 360 , Nintendo Wii , PlayStation 3 , PC and mobile devices. The series has also diversified into music genres such as metal, pop, country, and hip-hop.
Guitar Hero Challenges
However, the success of Guitar Hero also brought some problems. One of them was market saturation: between 2005 and 2011, more than 20 franchise games were released, including spin-offs, special editions and expansion packs. This caused fatigue in consumers, who got tired of the repetition of the formula and the lack of innovation.
Another problem was competition: in addition to Rock Band, which offered a similar experience with more instruments and game modes, other music games appeared on the market, such as DJ Hero, Band Hero and Lego Rock Band. These games competed for the same target audience and the same resources as music producers and licensors.
A third problem was the change in players’ habits: with the advent of social networks, streaming services and casual games for smartphones and tablets, players began to dedicate less time and money to music games. Furthermore, instrument-shaped controllers took up a lot of space and were expensive to produce and distribute.
Guitar Hero Prospects
In 2011, Activision announced the cancellation of development of Guitar Hero 7 and the closure of the division responsible for the franchise. The company cited declining sales and profitability of music games as the main reasons for the decision.
Since then, Guitar Hero was on hiatus for four years, until in 2015 Activision released Guitar Hero Live , a game that tried to revitalize the series with a new format: instead of using pre-rendered graphics, the game used videos shot with real actors to simulate the environment of a live show. The game also introduced a new controller with six buttons, instead of five, and an online service called Guitar Hero TV , which allowed players to access a constantly updated library of songs.
However, Guitar Hero Live failed to replicate the success of the previous games, selling less than a million copies and receiving mixed reviews. In 2018, Activision shut down the game’s online service, making over 90% of the songs available inaccessible.
Since then, there have been no further official announcements regarding the future of Guitar Hero . Some fans still hope that the franchise can return one day, with new ideas and technologies that can bring back the magic and fun of music games. Others, however, believe that Guitar Hero was a phenomenon of an era, and that it will hardly be able to adapt to new trends and market demands.
And you, what do you think of Guitar Hero ? Would you like to see a new game in the series? Do you still play the old games? Share your opinion in the comments!
So that’s it people. I would like to know what you think about all this, leave your comment, and if you liked this post, always consider seeing the next ones. Until later!