• Guitar Hero video game series is axed by Activision



    The popular music video game Guitar Hero is being axed by the company that publishes it after nearly six years.

    Guitar Hero was first published in 2005 by RedOctane and Harmonix, Activision Blizzard, which makes the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft series, says it's ditching the franchise because "the popularity of music-themed video games has faded".

    The company is also cutting 500 people from its global workforce of 7,000.

    Activision Blizzard has revealed that other games it's cutting will include DJ Hero and True Crime.

    The company says music games are expensive to manufacture, between the licensing fees for the songs and the cost of making the hardware such as plastic guitars and microphones.

    It will, however, continue to sell and support its catalogue of Guitar Hero titles.

    Activision Publishing Chief Executive Eric Hirshberg said: "We simply cannot make these games profitable based on current economics."

    Fourteen different versions of Guitar Hero have been released since its launch in 2005 including Guitar Hero World Tour and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock with celebrity specials from Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen.

    The company says a new digital platform called Beachhead will now focus on the money-making Call of Duty franchise.

    Since its launch in November, Call of Duty: Black Ops has smashed retail records and pulled in more $1 billion (£621.9m) in sales worldwide.

    Last year, Viacom sold the unit behind the Rock Band video games because it was also losing money.

    Source
    Comments 7 Comments
    1. Alien Darkside's Avatar
      Alien Darkside -
      But EA's Rock Band is alive and kicking, even though Activision also killed the Tony Hawk game franchise. In fact, Activision closed its RedOctane division, the company that produces the series.
    1. User XYZ's Avatar
      User XYZ -
      Awww Man....That Was My Favorite Game...
    1. crazycurtis's Avatar
      crazycurtis -
      Those were some pretty good games. Sucks to see some of the best games go like that.
    1. calvinsensei's Avatar
      calvinsensei -
      looks great
    1. ejguev0626's Avatar
      ejguev0626 -
      damn i liked this games
    1. psp5's Avatar
      psp5 -
      "the popularity of music-themed video games has faded"
      Huh?That's a lie!!!!!
    1. Wolf_Fhang's Avatar
      Wolf_Fhang -
      "popularity of music-themed video games has faded"

      uhh...no...America just can't make entertaining rhythm games like Japan XD