The famous video game that inspired several competitors in the music genre has been cancelled until further notice by its publisher, Activision-Blizzard. In addition, the company announced the lay-off of 500 employees.
Guitar Hero is a rhythm game that came out in 2005 by game developers Red Octane and Harmonix Music. The game series allowed players to play guitar and bass to famous songs. It went on to inspire other developers to create rhythm games such as Rock Band and DJ Hero.
“Due to continued declines in the music genre, the company will disband Activision Publishing’s Guitar Hero business unit and discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011,” Activision said in a press release.
This action has left many wondering how such a prominent and well-known franchise burned out so quickly; going from Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock, which earned more than a billion dollars in profits, to Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, which still has not made more than $60 million since its release last October. Some, like former Red Octane CEO Kelly Summer, said that Activision is to blame for the discontinuation because it overused the franchise and then abandoned it just because it no longer brought in billions of dollars.
“[Activision] tried to get too much out of the franchise too quickly. They abused it,” Summer said to G4 TV. “I’d be surprised if they sold the brand as it’d prove to the world there is still a market for this product and show them up.”
As far as fans are concerned though, this could be a good thing for the franchise since Activision has not announced plans to sell off the rights to Guitar Hero, indicating that rather than a permanent death, Guitar Hero could instead just be getting a breather.
“Chapter closed? Sure, okay. Book burned? I doubt it.” Activision’s Dan Amrich said in a blog post
This has left fans hoping that the time Guitar Hero is off the radar will allow the game’s developers to come up with something fresh to bring the ailing franchise back to life.
“I hope with a little time they might come up with some new features,” WTAMU student JR Alvarado said.
Others, like WT student Jacob Kemp, have expressed indifference for whether Guitar Hero comes back or not.
“Guitar Hero has a more original feel than other games like Rock Band,” Kemp said. “Really though, it didn’t have much further to go.”
