Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s for the PlayStation 2, which was released in July 2007, was the final game developed by Harmonix for the series. Though it was produced after Harmonix were purchased by MTV Games, it was part of their contractual obligation to complete the game. The game, as suggested by its name, features tracks primarily from the 1980s.
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith was the first band-centric game for the series. On September 4, 2007, Billboard announced that the band Aerosmith was "working closely with the makers of Guitar Hero IV, which will be dedicated to the group's music." On February 15, 2008, Activision announced that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith would be released on June 29, 2008. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith is developed by Neversoft for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions, while the Wii version of the game is developed by Vicarious Visions and the PlayStation 2 version is developed by Budcat Creations. The game features a track selection composed of 60% of Aerosmith songs, with other songs from Joe Perry's solo work or artists that have inspired or performed with Aerosmith, including Run D.M.C..
The series' next band-centric title, Guitar Hero: Metallica, was revealed from Activision's 2008 SEC filings, with plans to release the game by the first quarter of 2009, according the Wedbush Morgan Securities. Guitar Hero: Metallica is based on the full band experience of World Tour while offering similar features on Metallica's history and music as found in Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.In addition, Metallica's album, Death Magnetic, was available as downloadable content for Guitar Hero III simultaneously with the release of the album, with the content being forward-compatible with Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero: Metallica. Since the PlayStation 2 version does not support downloading, three extra songs were included from Death Magnetic and are as follows: "Broken, Beat, and Scarred", "Cyanide", and "My Apocalypse". A new feature in the game, where the drummer can access a mode called Expert+, has also been added. Expert+ mode was implemented to allow faster bass pedal beats, fast to the point where it would normally be out of the playable range of a single bass pedal, and was intended for a dual bass pedal.
Guitar Hero Smash Hits (titled Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits in Europe and Australia) was released in June 2009, and features full-band versions of 48 songs present in earlier Guitar Hero games which only used the guitar controller. Unlike the previous versions, each of the songs is based on a master recording including some live tracks. The game follows a similar model as Guitar Hero: Metallica, and was developed by Neversoft and Beenox Studios for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and Wii.
Guitar Hero: Van Halen was released on December 22, 2009,though customers that purchased Guitar Hero 5 under a special promotion received a copy of the game early. Like the other band-centric games, Guitar Hero: Van Halen includes 25 songs from the band Van Halen, including 3 guitar solos by Eddie Van Halen, in addition to 19 guest acts such as Queen, Weezer, Blink-182, Foo Fighters, The Offspring and Queens of the Stone Age.
Another new title to the series, Band Hero, was announced in May 2009. Band Hero features Top 40 hits aimed at family audiences, and include the full band play style of Guitar Hero 5. The game was developed for the Nintendo DS, using the Guitar Hero On Tour Guitar Grip, a new "drum skin" to fit the DS Lite, and the DS's microphone to support the full band experience. Musician Taylor Swift appears as a playable character in the game., as do the members of No Doubt.
DJ Hero was announced by Activision in May 2009. Prior to the announcement, the company had purchased FreeStyleGames, a small developer of music games, to help produce localized downloadable content for Guitar Hero games and, at that time, a yet-to-be announced music game, since revealed to be DJ Hero. DJ Hero uses a special turntable-based controller for players to perform with on various song mixes in the game. The game also incorporates the use of a Guitar Hero controller on ten specially-arranged tracks; Bright has suggested that future Guitar Hero games after Guitar Hero 5 may include the use of the turntable control.
A sequel, DJ Hero 2, was officially announced in June 2010 for release in the last quarter of 2010, featuring more than 70 mashups from over 85 artists. The game will include several new gameplay modes, including an "Empire" career mode, head-to-head DJ battles, social multiplayer modes, and a jump-in and out Party Play mode similar to Guitar Hero 5. The game will include more vocal options for singing and rapping to songs, and a freestyle mode for players. Confirmed song artists include Dr Dre, Chemical Brothers, Kanye West, Metallica, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna, while Deadmau5 will be a playable avatar in the game.