Guitar Hero rocks out to the tune of $1 billion

The rock star-wannabe franchise has blasted through industry records, and sold quite a lot of games.

The first Guitar Hero game was released on the PlayStation 2 in the US in November 2005, and since then a slew of sequels have followed, including Guitar Hero II, Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s, and most recently, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock.

According to figures released today by Activision, the Guitar Hero series of games have been rocking across America--to the tune of $1 billion in the 26 months since it was first released.

Quoting NPD figures, the company states that the franchise has sold over 14 million units in total in North America alone, and that since the launch of Guitar Hero III, some 5 million songs have been downloaded.

Additionally, Guitar Hero III was the number one title in the region during 2007, both in terms of units and in dollars--according to the data, which means the game has sold the most copies of any title in one single year.

124 Comments

  • cheese4927

    Posted Feb 4, 2008 5:52 pm GMT

    Guitar Hero III is an amazing game, and I can't wait for Guitar Hero IV!!!

  • UnreaLuigi

    Posted Jan 24, 2008 4:48 am GMT

    what a great milestone for an awesome franchise.

  • Wardenb

    Posted Jan 24, 2008 2:10 am GMT

    Iv just realised im missing out, buying a copy on friday !

  • marijuana_man2

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 6:57 pm GMT

    Can't wait to see the new guitar model for GH4...

  • bodjoe921

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 3:50 pm GMT

    AWESOME!~

  • Dawg9000

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 1:45 pm GMT

    Where did Halo come from? Damn Halo fanboys. Noone cares if Halo made more.

  • Sonicplys

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 11:45 am GMT

    Guitar Hero owns Rock Band any day of the week.
    DragonForce > anything on RB

  • MilkyJoe1

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 10:26 am GMT

    Rock Band FTW!!!!!!!!!!

  • Atarii

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 8:45 am GMT

    At least it's not an EA game.... yet....

  • jmartinez1983

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 8:32 am GMT

    By the time GHIV and Rock Band 2 or whatever are released I see Rock Band taking over. They have a better model and better music. Plus they have the real brains behind the games in Harmonix. Plus, the huge party aspect of Rock Band is what really wins out. Being able to invite over people who never play video games and having hours long jam sessions are just too much fun.

  • Sil3n7Knight

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 8:31 am GMT

    Guitar Hero is obsolete make way for Rock Rand!

  • Anabub

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 8:07 am GMT

    Who said rhythm games would come to nothing LOL

  • element2121

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 7:47 am GMT

    everybody's talking about halo and how much money that series has brought in, but here's the 2 things you need to think about:

    -GH originally costed anywhere from $70-$100; whereas, Halo was $50-$60

    -GH is sold for the Wii, 360, Xbox, PS2, PS3, PC; however, Halo was only released for the 360, Xbox, and PC

    I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that if Halo costed as much and was released on as many systems, it would bring in far more money than the GH series.

  • RgvXavi

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 6:28 am GMT

    my only quarrell with GH III is that they don't release songs as often as RB. Not only that but most often GH III DLC usually come in bunches of 3 whereas RB you can get DL songs in either single(s) or a pack of 3. I can't say much about RB since I don't own it; however, i do go to my friends house who happens to own it and it's ok. my personal preference goes to GH III just because when I play alone it feels right, whereas when im at my buddies and playing RB alone it just feels.. off.

  • rockutd

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 6:25 am GMT

    Wow thats pretty insane.I guess not even the Halo series could reach those heights...

  • AllSystemsRocks

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 6:12 am GMT

    bigboyblack it's a joke right ? Have you played drum on RB ?

  • pash007

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 6:09 am GMT

    I notice that the $1 billion dollars is the amount that "the franchise" has made. That's Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero 2 and Guitar Hero 3 added together. Does anybody know how much "The Halo Franchise" has taken? - That's Halo, Halo 2 and Halo 3 added together.
    I noticed that one person commented that the $1 billion dollars was more than Halo 3 had taken. That's only to be expected bearing in mind you're comparing 3 games at £70 each against 1 game at £40.

  • Phazevariance

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 6:01 am GMT

    They shoudl join up again and make the ultimate "Guitar Band" game with the difficulty of GH and the song list in RB, all done in VR with the magic of disney... yadda yadda ... this style of gamepla can only go so far, and though i love them both, how much more improvements can they add? Just different song lists?

  • badboyblack posted Jan 23, 2008 4:25 am GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    badboyblack

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 4:25 am GMT (hide)

    Guitar Hero is far better than Rock Band!!!!!

  • miiiguel

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 4:04 am GMT

    Yeah David, I so love this hobby, I just wished our community wouldn't be so "war hungry" in the most ridiculous ways.

  • xgalacticax

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 3:43 am GMT

    What do u expect from a game that costs 70 quid?

  • David_Kniffin

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 3:41 am GMT

    miiiguel, I see what you mean. Interesting, that those wh pick a side get + points and I praise both and get -1. This site is so overrun with fanboys, its really sad sometimes.

  • Tree06

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 3:38 am GMT

    I love GH3 and I just can't stop playing it.

  • miiiguel

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 3:20 am GMT

    Now, this is a war... ffs..., would you kids stop that thing ?
    ps3 vs 360
    RB vs GH
    Ferraru vs McLaren
    Pepsi vs Coca-cola
    Boys vs girls
    Uk vs US
    Black vs Blue
    Rock vs Hip Hop
    As* vs Pee

    It's FU**** ridiculous! Give yourselfs some respect, and don't be this, this... dumb.

  • David_Kniffin

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 2:01 am GMT

    Wow, this is great! I think both GH and RB are great games with great songs, but GH has the edge for me. The music suits my taste better and it's fun when I'm by myself AND with a friend. Don't get me wrong, RB is so awesome when I have my friends over (no bassist though, since I have it on PS3), but that doesn't happen all the time. I just like that GH can shine on it's own.

  • rockatanski

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 1:46 am GMT

    Holy crap, man that is bigger than 98% of what hollywood films make!!!!!

  • Rob_101

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 12:55 am GMT

    Wow....

  • ShadowLaguna

    Posted Jan 23, 2008 12:27 am GMT

    Heh, niiice!!

  • Fanible

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 11:55 pm GMT

    @Gordan
    You're right to some extent. I have both games as well, but when it comes to overall, I'd have to say Rock Band is better. When you DO get the extra people to play with, it becomes the far greater game. The only other exception that makes GH3 better is if you're playing alone and want to have more challenging songs, which not everyone is going to be absolutely fond of anyway. But if I had to choose between playing alone or playing with a group, I'd choose the group always. It's a far better experience for games like this.

  • GordonFreakman

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 10:50 pm GMT

    I like and have both Rock Band and GH3. I really don't think one is really better than the other. I mean, would you like Rock Band more if it only had Single Player? Or if GH only had Coop? See, it just depends on if you have people you know who have Rock Band and are willing to play it with you.
    (PS: GH3 guitar battles SUCKED!!!)
    (PPS: GH4 had better take it out or make it better...)

  • cdodder

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 10:45 pm GMT

    Guitar hero destroys rock band guitar gameplay. If you play with people or just drums , rock band is better. They both need to rejoin forces and make the greatest music game ever. They both have something the other needs.

  • stupidfatdaniel

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 10:42 pm GMT

    well thats ur opinion and i have to agree with FrankenLife

  • Soupflakez

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 9:56 pm GMT

    Rockband has a way better song list than GH, Frankenlife. GH is def. my choice when I'm alone. Rockband is truely only good if you get the entire package and play with your friends.

  • FrankenLife

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 9:43 pm GMT

    I enjoyed both GH and Rock Band thoroughly. But they play very different. GH does have a much better song list despite the difficulty jump. I still haven't beat Raining blood on expert. I love playing rock band with friends, but when alone GH is my hands down choice.

  • playa42018

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 9:34 pm GMT

    I only played GH3 because I was waiting for Rock Band.

    The "Battle the Legends of Rock" thing was a HUGE let down. 3 Battles and this is one of the biggest selling points of the game? Give me a break. If GH4 wants to do good with Rock Band already out, it will need a miracle. I think a 4 player Guitar Hero game would be fun. They could utilize the Rock Band hub like Rock Band utilized the Guitar Hero guitar.

  • dmn_link

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 8:59 pm GMT

    I want it !

  • grand17

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 8:50 pm GMT

    rock band/guitar hero..everyone has to choose sides nowadays, each have their positive qualities, enjoy them for what they are, GAMES

  • cannonballhands

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 8:45 pm GMT

    haha, 5 million songs "downloaded" i think is the key word, pretty easy feat when you have two songs that your giving away for free. I can't imagine them actually selling that many seeing that what they currently have to offer is pretty weaksauce.

  • Mush_Mouth

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 8:43 pm GMT

    I agree with all the Rockband supporters...better DLC, better and more user-friendly interface/customization, and above all infinitely better difficulty balancing.

  • greystone227

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 8:29 pm GMT

    Yeah, GHIII was sort of disappointing for me. I don't understand all the praise it's getting for it's soundtrack - I get it, there's only a few covers, and there's some real classics in there. But then the rest of the list is filled in with boring songs. Is Slow Ride a great song? You bet. Fun to play? Absolutely not. That seems to be what it's like for most of the game. There are only two songs that I truly both enjoy playing and listening to - Cliffs of Dover and Impulse. Not to mention the game doesn't even get hard until the last two set lists, where the difficulty gets crazy high. It's like they try to lure you in with easy songs, then smack you in the face (I'm looking at you, Raining Blood).

    Now GHII, that's a great game that didn't have any of these problems. The only downside was the outrageous amounts of covers, but I can tolerate that - I can't tolerate boringness and horrible difficulty balancing.

  • Bret_Hart

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 8:24 pm GMT

    I'm going to have to agree with most of the people who posted below me. After you play Rock Band, you can really see how limited Guitar Hero really is. I have so much more fun playing with four people in my own band, with my own logo and my own image. I don't want to have to use a freak named Axel Steel. Rock Band is more expensive for a reason; it's better. Even the DLC is better; Guitar Hero III has absolute crap. Plus, Rock Band has 200 downloadable songs in the pipeline for 2008. Guitar Hero has none. Rock Band is just hands down a better game.

  • ps3_CRazY

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 8:23 pm GMT

    everyone at my school is like i beat medium! lol but it is selling fast

  • t37nguye

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 8:20 pm GMT

    This is true. Everytime I visit my local video game stores I see many people come in asking for Guitar Hero III and walk out disappointed because the game has sold out. Rockband is also selling well but I think Guitar Hero is way more popular.

  • Merl57

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 8:19 pm GMT

    Heres an idea take that money and make controllers that wont break when the person using it didn't even use expert mode at all

  • carl2tan

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 8:16 pm GMT

    I cant wait for this fad to be over. Ten years from now, your kids will make fun of you for playing guitar hero.

  • BigDaddy973 posted Jan 22, 2008 8:05 pm GMT (does not meet display criteria. sign in to show)

    BigDaddy973

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 8:05 pm GMT (hide)

    I love my Rock Band, and whats better my girlfriend who would never play video games loves to play Drums and is 1373 in the world!!!! Haha, did i mention she is German and hott? Oh yea!

  • infect999

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 7:57 pm GMT

    i didnt like GHIII too much....i think the series is on a downward spiral now that harmonix and red octane split...activision is probably just trying to cash in on the series (i think there's actually four titles in the series in development, and scheduled for release this year).

    the first two were great though

  • MGSFan27285

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 7:56 pm GMT

    they need better songs, i hate the mainstream crap they put in them.

  • link631

    Posted Jan 22, 2008 7:55 pm GMT

    guitar hero yay

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