RedOctane
Encyclopedia
RedOctane was an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 electronic entertainment company perhaps best known for producing the Guitar Hero series
Guitar Hero
Guitar Hero is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane for the PlayStation 2 video game console. It is the first entry in the Guitar Hero series. Guitar Hero was released on November 8, 2005 in North America, April 7, 2006 in Europe and June 15, 2006 in...

 beginning in November 2005. RedOctane became a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...

 in 2006. In February 2010, Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...

 closed the RedOctane division.

History

RedOctane is known for its Guitar Hero games, Ignition dance pad
Dance pad
A dance pad, also known as a dance mat, dance platform, or jiffer deck is a flat electronic game controller used for input in dance games. Most dance pads are divided into a 3×3 matrix of square panels for the player to stand on, with some or all of the panels corresponding to directions or actions...

s, and other video game accessories
Video game accessory
A video game accessory is a distinct piece of hardware that is required to use a video game console, or one that enriches the video game's play experience. Essentially, video game accessories are everything except the console itself, such as controllers, memory, power adapters , and audio/visual...

, including arcade joysticks, drums, and guitars for existing music games. RedOctane teamed with developer Harmonix Music Systems
Harmonix Music Systems
Harmonix Music Systems is an American video game development company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the United States...

 to release Guitar Hero in November 2005 for the PlayStation 2. The game was successful and RedOctane had Lee Guinchard design more sophisticated hardware for a sequel
Guitar Hero II
Guitar Hero II is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by RedOctane. It is the second installment in the Guitar Hero series and is the sequel to Guitar Hero...

, which they released in 2006 for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360
Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 is the second video game console produced by Microsoft and the successor to the Xbox. The Xbox 360 competes with Sony's PlayStation 3 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles...

.
In May 2006, video game publisher Activision
Activision
Activision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...

 announced plans to acquire RedOctane, completing the deal on June 6, 2006. Activision reportedly paid RedOctane $
United States dollar
The United States dollar , also referred to as the American dollar, is the official currency of the United States of America. It is divided into 100 smaller units called cents or pennies....

99.9 million in cash and common stock in the acquisition. Activision acquired McCauleys's consulting company, R0R3 Devices, at the same time.

After the Activision buy-out and a split from Harmonix, who went on to develop competing game Rock Band, RedOctane utilized Activision owned Neversoft
Neversoft
Neversoft Entertainment is an American video game developer, founded in 1994 by Joel Jewett, Mick West and Chris Ward. Neversoft is best recognized for their line of Guitar Hero and Tony Hawk skateboarding games, known as the Tony Hawk's series...

, the team responsible for the Tony Hawk skateboarding video game franchise, to take the helm on Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock is a music video game, the third main installment in the Guitar Hero series, and the fourth title overall...

, which became available in November 2007.

Gaming news site Kotaku calls Guitar Hero an "instant cult classic". In the 26 months since first release, Guitar Hero has generated over $1B in sales.

RedOctane released Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour
Guitar Hero World Tour is a music video game developed by Neversoft and published by RedOctane and Activision. It is the fourth main entry in the Guitar Hero series...

in October 2008.

On February 11, 2010, Activision announced the closure of their RedOctane division.
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