Prior to the announcement of Stage Tour from RedOctane Games (which includes developers from the original RedOctane team, community members, former Neversoft and Harmonix developers, and others), the state of rhythm action games was pretty much dead on consoles. With Epic Games owning former Rock Band developer Harmonix and Microsoft doing nothing with the Guitar Hero IP so far, the opening was certainly there for someone to come in and fill the void left by the genre’s two former behemoths.
During Gamescom Opening Night Live, Stage Tour revealed its release date trailer, set to Mötley Crüe’s “Kickstart My Heart,” one of 90 songs available on the launch setlist, which spans over six decades of licensed music. Undoubtedly, the music itself is of the utmost importance to any rhythm game, but equally important is how you play that music. While plastic instruments, both new and old, are available for nostalgic players, they’re not required. The developers at RedOctane Games have made Stage Tour appealing to anyone who just enjoys good tunes by allowing the game to be played with a regular controller or even a PC keyboard. This truly makes it about playing your way.
Releasing on December 10, 2026, Stage...
