Guitar Hero officially a billion-dollar franchise

By Stevie Smith Jan 22, 2008, 14:58 GMT

Guitar Hero series passes the $1 billion sales mark in North America. Credit: Harmonix.

The current surge of mass appeal directed towards progressive rhythm game Rock Band may be sending musical shock waves throughout the industry, but that doesn’t necessarily mean the founding genius of Activision’s Guitar Hero is losing any of its fret-busting bite.

Quite the contrary in fact, especially when factoring in NPD Group figures released today outlining that in 26 months of sale on the North American market, Guitar Hero has surpassed $1 billion USD in sales.

Further to the hugely popular franchise’s landmark announcement, publisher Activision has also revealed that Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock was the number one units and dollars title for calendar year 2007, making it the year’s best-selling game.

"Guitar Hero is one of the biggest brands and one of the most powerful distribution platforms in all of entertainment today," trumpeted Michael Griffith, President and CEO of Activision Publishing, Inc. "Guitar Hero’s popularity with broad audiences is a confirmation that video games have become a true mass medium."

Indeed, since it first rocked our gaming socks off in the autumn of 2005, Guitar Hero on the PlayStation 2 – and its resulting cross-platform sequels – have sold more than 14 million units in North America alone. Also, in the ten weeks since the release of Guitar Hero III, which is capable of hosting online content, fans have downloaded over 5 million tracks.

Rock Band who? Multiple instruments what?

We jest of course, there’s more than enough room for both musical giants – which is exactly what this article confirms.