Former Guitar Hero and DJ Hero developers, and the creators of the new line of CRKD guitars have come together to form RedOctane Games, a new rhythm game-focused studio that has just entered full production of its debut title, which is set to be revealed later in 2025.
If the RedOctane name sounds familiar to you, that's because RedOctane Inc. was the studio who teamed up with Harmonix to create and publish the first Guitar Hero game back in 2005. It also worked on Guitar Hero II with Harmonix before it was acquired by Activision in 2006, and then under the Activision banner, made Guitar Hero III and Guitar Hero World Tour alongside Neversoft. However, like many other studios under Activision, RedOctane Inc. was caught up in a round of layoffs in 2010, with the whole studio being shut down and laid off.
Now, RedOctane Inc. is reborn in the form of RedOctane Games, headed up by Simon Ebejer, who worked on the Guitar Hero series since Guitar Hero III as part of Neversoft, and most recently worked on Diablo IV as the vice president of operations on the Diablo franchise at Blizzard. Brothers Charles Huang and Kai Huang, who originally founded RedOctane Inc. in 1999, are still part of the RedOctane journey, and confirmed to be members of RedOctane Games' special advisory board.
Beyond Ebejer and the Huang brothers, a press release for the announcement states that the studio is made up of veteran talent who worked on the games that RedOctane was known for nearly two decades ago, and "proven emerging development talent and community leaders from across today's rhythm gaming space." And while the team's first title is set to be revealed later this year, the studio is currently working on "a range of innovative rhythm-based experiences."
"Rhythm games are about more than just gameplay, they're about feel, flow, and connection to the music and to each other," Ebejer said in the press release. "RedOctane Games is our way of giving back to a genre that means so much to us, while pushing it forward in new and exciting directions."
The press release also continues to say that RedOctane Games "is ready to deliver the next evolution in rhythm gaming."
"This game won’t be Guitar Hero, DJ Hero, Guitar Freaks or Rockband. This is something new," a blog post on the studio's website from Lee Guinchard reads. "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."
It'll be interesting to see what RedOctane Games has in the works. Rhythm games are still a significant part of the video game industry, even if they're not taking over living rooms with multiple plastic instruments anymore. Hopefully, we're not waiting too much longer into the rest of 2025 to see what RedOctane Games' debut title is.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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