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A teaser of the tracklist for Stage Tour – the upcoming rhythm-action game by Guitar Hero producers RedOctane Games – has just been released, and, spoiler alert, it includes a bunch of hits.
Largely perceived as the spiritual successor to Guitar Hero – the multi-million dollar rhythm game series released between 2005 and 2015 – Stage Tour was announced in February and is scheduled for release later this year.
Red Hot Chili Peppers make an appearance with their 2006 release, Dani California, while Swedish band Ghost contribute Square Hammer – their Billboard Mainstream Rock chart topper.
Elsewhere, RATATATA – from Japanese kawaii metal band BABYMETAL and German electronicore band Electric Callboy – also makes the cut.
Nuno Bettencourt’s Extreme, with their 1990 single Get the Funk Out – whose solo Brian May himself hailed as a landmark in rock history – is also included in the tracklist, with Weezer’s alt-rock early-aughts hit Island in the Sun, Static-X’s Terminal Oscillator, and Good Kid’s Mimi’s Delivery Service rounding off the list.
Aside from this Rolodex of artists, Gibson, Kramer, Epiphone and Mesa Boogie are all in on the action, as a new Kramer-modeled guitar peripheral has been unveiled at the 2026 IGN Live event this past weekend. Other instruments and equipment from these brands are also said to be featured in the game.
RedOctane Games confirmed that Stage Tour will support plastic instrument controllers and up to four players across groove/bass, vocals and drums, as well as support for standard computer keyboard controls and gamepads.
With the ultimate aim of not only bringing rhythm games back, but bringing them back better than ever before – at least according to project lead Alex Jeffreys in the developer spotlight trailer – the game looks set to follow Guitar Hero’s lead.
If the initial tracklist is anything to go by, it will not only give a boost to established names in music, but also help launch new ones.
Guitar Hero did help transform bands like DragonForce into household names after all – so much so that, according to Herman Li, the song featured in the game, Through the Fire and Flames, tends to overshadow the rest of the band's repertoire.
The game also helped inspire a newer generation of artists to pick up guitar and make it their own. Yasmin Williams is one such guitarist who, inspired by Guitar Hero, flipped her acoustic onto her lap and developed her unique lap-tapping technique.
