Veteran developers behind the original Guitar Hero franchise have revived the RedOctane name, unveiling a new studio dedicated solely to rhythm games. RedOctane Games formally opened on 6 August with a team of 23 staff and is operating within Fellowship Entertainment’s Freemode division, the business unit that houses several of the Swedish group’s independent labels. The company is led by Simon Ebejer, production director on multiple Guitar Hero titles at Neversoft and a former executive at Vicarious Visions and Blizzard. Guitar Hero founders Charles and Kai Huang have joined a special advisory board, reuniting key figures who helped turn plastic-instrument gaming into a billion-dollar fad in the mid-2000s. RedOctane said its first project has moved from pre-production into full development and will be revealed later this year. While the untitled game will feature guitar play, the studio stressed it "will not be called Guitar Hero" and aims to modernise rhythm mechanics through community-driven design. The relaunch positions Fellowship to compete with Epic Games’ Harmonix-built Fortnite Festival and a growing slate of indie rhythm offerings.