Guitar Hero has been one of Activision’s most popular and profitable franchises, so it came as a surprise when the publisher stated that there would be no new music games within the next year. Fans suspected that the Guitar Hero series would be canceled after its long run, but Activision’s Dan Winters is saying otherwise.
In a statement to GamesIndustry.biz, Winters confirmed that gamers would not see a new release this year, but the series itself would continue. “Actually, just to clarify, we’re just putting Guitar Hero on hiatus, we’re not ending it,” Winters told GamesIndustry. “We’re releasing products out of the vault–we’ll continue to sustain the channel, the brand won’t go away. We’re just not making a new one for the next year, that’s all.”
There’s no denying the rut Guitar Hero was in because of competition from Rock Band, but the fan base for the franchise is still strong. It’s good to know that Activision will keep the brand alive through DLC for the time being, and it will be interesting to see how the publisher approaches the genre later on.
One series that might not be revived is True Crime. According to Winters, True Crime: Hong Kong had the potential to earn high review scores from critics, but with games like Red Dead Redemption having such a strong presence in the genre, Activision deemed it unlikely that the game would enjoy commercial success. It’s a shame that a title the developers were so fond of didn’t get a chance to shine. Perhaps Activision will resurrect True Crime: Hong Kong in the future.
Activision has been undergoing a restructuring period over the past several months. As a result of some major moves and cuts, the company has been the source of much controversy among gamers. Now that Winters has gone public about Activision’s major franchises and their status in the industry, we’ll have to watch closely to see how the company moves forward over the next few months.
