Activision Axe Guitar Hero & Other Big Franchises

Reflecting their poor financial results from 2010, in a conference call to investors yesterday Activision took the axe to the Guitar Hero series – and more of their other popular franchises. This is mainly due to the decline in popularity of music-based games over the last few years – highlighted by the terrible sales figures Rock Band 3 garnered. Activision had previously confirmed a new Guitar Hero title for release in 2011, and assured us there was a future for rhythm-action games in the marketplace, but they appear to have gone back on that statement.

“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,” explained a statement from the publishing giant. Developers Vicarious Visions have been hit with major redundancies as a result, and that is nowhere near the end of the troubles for Activision developers. In conjunction with this, the company have confirmed that after the planned February DLC for the series has been released, they will no longer support downloads for Guitar Hero games.

The entire music division will be closing, which also spells the end for DJ Hero. It is not clear how developers Freestyle Games will be impacted, but it has been decided that it is no longer possible to turn a profit on peripheral-based music titles. “Given the considerable licensing and manufacturing costs associated with this genre, we simply can’t make these games profitably based on current markets and demand,” Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg explained. Despite critical success, the series will no longer be supported.

The next game in the open-world True Crime series – True Crime: Hong Kong – has also been cancelled, due to what have been cited as quality concerns and poor sales forecasts. In development at UK-based company United Front – the title has been canned and more layoffs are likely imminent. It had looked a bit ropey already, but its cancellation just adds to the air of confusion currently at Activision.

Finally – for the first time since 1999 – there will be no new Skateboarding game released by Activision in 2011. Tony Hawk titles have performed horribly at retail over recent years, with the over-priced, unsuccessful skateboard peripheral partially to blame. Developer Robomodo had already experienced a raft of layoffs after the launch of the last title, Shred, so this comes as little surprise.

When looking at plans of what Activision WILL actually release this year, licensed properties are key. Movie tie-ins Transformers 3 and X-Men: First Class are both on the way, there is a Family Guy game in development and there will also be a new entry to the Spiderman series. Hirshberg clarified that “these are all strong franchises with passionate niche audiences that can achieve repeatable and profitable success.”

Guitar Hero will have a new 10-song DLC pack due later this month. What do you think of this major news? Will you miss the titles or has the market been flooded over recent years? Discuss it in our forums.