Guitar Hero 7 (lost build of cancelled rhythm game sequel; 2011)

A screenshot of some of the songs that would've been in the game.

Status: Lost

Guitar Hero is a multi-billion dollar video game franchise published by Activision, in which the player hits musical notes by strumming a plastic guitar controller.

However, in 2011, Activision expected to release a seventh game in the series, developed by Vicarious Visions. This game would have featured a plastic controller with six buttons instead of the normal five, and six guitar strings where the strum bar would have been. The game would only have the guitar as a playable instrument, much like the earlier installments of the franchise. However, the game development was extremely rushed, and the game was cancelled for being a "disaster".

Gameplay

Guitar Hero 7 would have featured dynamic music videos with animated backgrounds, with each song having its own video.

Cancellation Of The Guitar Hero Franchise

In February 2011, Activision cancelled the Guitar Hero franchise because the company had made too many installments for the franchise since acquiring it in 2007. The franchise had gotten stale with no innovations (except for expanding into full-band gameplay), and sales were dwindling, which was one of the main reasons for Activision to place the Guitar Hero franchise on a four-year hiatus.

In July 2014, Activision shuttered Neversoft, the game developer that had developed the Guitar Hero franchise since 2007.

Potential Soundtrack

According to a source that communicated with a Kotaku writer, Guitar Hero 7 would have featured songs such as "Sex and Candy" by Marcy Playground, "Turn the Page" by Metallica, "I Believe in a Thing Called Love" by The Darkness, "Closing Time" by Semisonic, and various other "terrible" 1990s songs.

In January 2015, Twitter user Doctor Cupcakes posted two images of several songs that would have been featured in the game, such as "Disposable Heroes" by Metallica. On February 15th, 2015, Episode 3 of the Unseen64 podcast was released on Patreon to exclusive customers. This episode contained some information on the cancelled video game.

Doctor Cupcakes also posted a video of unknown songs by The Rolling Stones, Iron Maiden, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Muse, and Ramones on Vine.

Rock Gamer talks about the Guitar Hero 7 soundtrack.

Reboot Of The Franchise

In April 2015, Activision announced a true seventh installment of the Guitar Hero franchise. Titled Guitar Hero Live, this video game uses live-action musicians and music video backgrounds instead of CGI characters. This game was released on October 20th, 2015 to positive reviews.