Activision announced today that  ‘Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock’ is the first game in history to reach one billion dollars (USD)  in sales. The game is widely available and has versions available for Nintendo Wii, Xbox 360, Playstation 2, Playstation 3, PC and Mac.

‘Guitar Hero III’ launched in fall of 2007.  It went on to become the best selling game of all time within a year making Activision the number one developer that year.

‘Guitar Hero III: LOR’ was published by RedOctane. Activision acquired RedOctane in 2006 for a mere $100,000,000.

The success of the game has not only benefited the video game industry but the music industry as well.  Mike Griffith Publishing CEO revealed that Nielson SoundScan data shows artists featured in the ‘Guitar Hero’ games have seen download music sales increases between 15-843%.

‘Guitar Hero: World Tour’ is the successor to ‘Guitar Hero III’ which launched in October of 2008.  It is the first game in the  series to feature drum and microphone controllers.  Sales for ‘Guitar Hero: WT’ seem to be down from previous ‘Guitar Hero’ games due partly to black Friday sales of Guitar Hero III. Although ‘Guitar Hero’ will always have a loyal fan base the series might never surpass the sales and popularity of ‘Guitar Hero III’.