Rumor: R.I.P. Guitar Hero
Originally published at Civin.org. Please leave any comments there.
Guitar Hero Franchise Boxed?
According to reports from overseas (Eurogamer to be specific) the Guitar Hero franchise has been killed off. It actually started with Activision Freestyle Games (DJ Hero developer) with massive layouts before making that announcement.
One of Activision’s CEO’s had this to say:
“It’s no secret that not just Guitar Hero, but also Rock Band, and the music category in general, do not have the same mass appeal today that they did a few years ago,” he said.
“That said, I think that we would be foolish to not try and build on the strength of the Guitar Hero brand, because as you said, it’s a pretty strong brand with great recognition and great likeability, and there’s a lot to work with there.”
“I think the road to rejuvenating that category goes through innovation,” he continued.
There was a bit more after that but I felt it was a good point to think about that last comment. I guess in the last month that says innovation means cancelling a strong franchise that you still COULD do something with.
This is technically a rumor at this time but there seems to be enough weight behind it with announced layoffs through developers on Twitter that we may have seen the end to an era. I personally haven’t played Guitar Hero in quite some time, however with how much I DID play it in college and after. It’s hard to imagine not having new Guitar Hero games be announced.