Guitar Hero, True Crime Axed, 500 Will Lose Their Jobs
Over-saturation will get you every time.
Back in 2008, Guitar Hero was one of the biggest franchises in video game history and the music/rhythm genre overall was soaring. But as it turned out, the phenomenon turned into more of a fad, and multiple music-based games began to flood the market. Activision reveled in the $2 billion generated by Guitar Hero and tried to keep pushing but all good things have to end; the latest series entry, Warriors of Rock, sold under 100,000 copies during its debut month last September. This resulted in the end of developer RedOctane and designer Neversoft suffered a round of layoffs. And now, we may have the final nail in the coffin: according to the publisher's latest financial report, the Guitar Hero series is done. At least for now.
The report says that "the company will disband Activision Publishing's Guitar Hero business unit" and it seems a third DJ Hero is out of the question as well. Activision wouldn't say if they had plans to resurrect the once-proud franchise in the future but for the time being, the company just couldn't make Guitar Hero or DJ Hero profitable anymore, what with all the licensing fees and music royalties. They will continue to produce downloadable content for existing titles for the sake of the fans, but that's about where it ends. And the bad news doesn't end there.
The new True Crime, which we hadn't heard about in quite some time, has been canceled. True Crime: Hong Kong is no more; it was initially slated to hit the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC later this year. The reason? Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg said the company is only interested in producing "top-tier games" in today's market and quite simply, True Crime wasn't a top-tier title. "To be blunt, it just wasn't going to be good enough," he said. The boss also confirmed they'd be holding off on more Tony Hawk installments, which isn't exactly surprising.
At the end of the day, all of this means 7% of Activision's workforce will disappear, which means around 500 people will lose their jobs. It's always unfortunate to hear this but with Call of Duty and World of Warcraft - the two biggest video games in the industry right now - Activision will be just fine. Those 500 poor souls won't be, but then again, they'll probably catch on elsewhere. ...EA is going to get a lot of applications very soon.
Tags: activision, guitar hero, games industry, true crime
2/9/2011 8:41:32 PM Ben Dutka
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Comments (55 posts)
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, February 09, 2011 @ 10:16:54 PM
Bugzbunny109
Wednesday, February 09, 2011 @ 9:52:51 PM
Reply
Last edited by Bugzbunny109 on 2/9/2011 9:53:10 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, February 09, 2011 @ 10:18:23 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, February 09, 2011 @ 10:15:03 PM
Reply
Bugzbunny109
Wednesday, February 09, 2011 @ 10:46:00 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Wednesday, February 09, 2011 @ 10:59:27 PM
PorkChopGamer
Wednesday, February 09, 2011 @ 11:27:59 PM
For overall game quality, Activision had a pretty great year last year. Nothing super crazy awesome but just consistently good stuff and I'm happy with that. Sad to see some of these people lose their jobs...
Last edited by PorkChopGamer on 2/9/2011 11:30:10 PM
WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 12:09:52 AM
Temjin001
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 9:21:29 AM
rogers71
Wednesday, February 09, 2011 @ 10:26:03 PM
Reply
You will use your plastic axe to hit notes and take down the taliban one riff at a time. You people laugh but it could happen......couldn't it? :)
556pineapple
Wednesday, February 09, 2011 @ 10:31:19 PM
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I don't play rhythm games as much as I used to, but Rock Band shows promise for the future, and as long as Harmonix can keep making the games and releasing music, I'll be a customer of theirs. It really sucks about the layoffs, but I'm sure those people will rebound somehow. There's a light at the end of every tunnel.
Dancemachine55
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 12:21:54 AM
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But CoD has one thing over GH. CoD doesn't require additional controllers or special instruments to play. You just need a console, a controller (or more for split-screen) and a copy of CoD.
I see CoD dying sooner rather than later, but I don't see it happening for another 2 years.
GuernicaReborn
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 12:33:06 AM
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___________
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 12:48:02 AM
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figures, the repetetive saturated crap like COD gets sequels out of the wazoo but when we finally get a new different game like true crime it gets canned before release!
wheres the justice in that?
the crap gets revived, and the gold gets shunned to the depths of hell!
honestly no joke i foresee in 10 years time we will have nothing but COD knockoffs!
tis why i can see this gen being my last gen of gaming!
its not enough that everything has to turn into a military shooter, now if it cant be a military shooter it just gets canned?
f*ck that!
Lairfan
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 4:00:00 PM
rogers71
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 6:35:39 PM
Lawless SXE
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 12:50:47 AM
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True Crime: Hong Kong would have been my first Activision purchase. It sounded very interesting, and to hear that they've killed it because it isn't "top-tier" is laughable. Was Prototype really "top-tier"? Was Transformers? Was Tony Hawk: Shred? No. They were decent, but hardly enough to set the world on fire. Perhaps it is simply because True Crime has neither the farm-ability, or instant brand recognition of any of those other titles.
Not only that, but didn't they also shut down the studio that created Split/Second: Velocity? More proof that they are focussing on relying solely on CoD for their future. It won't last.
Peace.
tridon
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 6:28:40 AM
Mamills
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 1:47:29 AM
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THANK GOD!!!
maybe ppl will actually want to go out n learn the real instrument instead of playing a pathetic excuse for music lessons
now if only call of duty can get axed.
(LOL know that wont happen, plus i heard they are opening another studio... again for even more call of duty. cmon extra online fees)
PorkChopGamer
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 2:04:42 AM
Underdog15
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 9:28:00 AM
If you asked him, I'm sure he'd say something along the lines of the fact that it's just nice kids are learning to appreciate music.
SvenMD
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 9:39:24 AM
Fane1024
Friday, February 11, 2011 @ 5:25:49 AM
kraygen
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 3:53:07 AM
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Besides the big problem with this thinking is that if they start canceling all their non top tier games, well they'll have to just shut the doors and stop making games altogether. ;)
aaronisbla
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 5:22:23 AM
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tridon
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 6:27:12 AM
tridon
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 6:25:46 AM
Reply
A2K78
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 7:58:20 AM
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"Activision and how their over-saturation killed a once great franchise in Guitar Hero."
To be honet, there was never anything great about the Guitar Hero or Rockband franchises because they were nothing but knock-off's of Konami's arcade game.
Last edited by A2K78 on 2/10/2011 8:03:03 AM
Underdog15
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 9:38:28 AM
"Its funny how the very same people who are complaing about activision putting out endless guitar hero/COD sequels are the very same ones who want Sony to put out endless sequels to GOW, KZ, GT, Uncharted, Resistence, etc."
-Ok... first of all, there's a major difference between a sequel and pure saturation of that sequel. Activision releases Guitar Hero more than once per year, and CoD 1-2 times every year. That is saturation. There is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING wrong with desiring a sequel.
All those titles you listed for your hypocricy claim are titles that ALL release a minimum of 2 years apart. GOW3 is the only GOW this generation in fact!!! Uncharted is 2 years apart, KZ is a few years apart, GT took 5 freaking years, and Resistance is spread out too!
Nothing wrong with sequels, but the difference is, we are not saturated with those titles you listed. By the time one comes out, we're CRAVING it. With Activision's games, a sequel comes out before we're barely done with their last one. It's far from hypocricy. To say it is is just plain dumb.
I'm not sure why that would be hard to grasp without me having to tell you...
"To be honet, there was never anything great about the Guitar Hero or Rockband franchises because they were nothing but knock-off's of Konami's arcade game."
Knock off's or not, they brought something new to the table at first. There's a reason there was a craze. Guitar Hero was king, and then Rock Band improved on that recipe. There was indeed something great about them. They allowed people with little to no musical experience, not just appreciate music, but interact with it directly. It's far from playing the actual instruments, but that's hardly a good argument against it's quality.
Plain and simple... it was a wonderful idea that provided a rich and new experience that got burnt out due to FAR too many title releases.
Please don't respond unless you're willing to address all my points. I'm trying to warn you before you throw your usual red herring.
SvenMD
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 9:47:31 AM
The difference is definitely about saturation - the number of games for a particular franchise at a particular time. Guitar Hero has far less games than the Final Fantasy franchise, but we're nowhere near saturated with FF because they only come out every 2-3 years or so (sometimes longer).
Putting out a new game every year like CoD (or every 3 months in GH's case) eventually causes boredom. You never get that itch that says, "Damn they should come out with a new CoD game" (because they just did)
It's like the Cadbury Creme Eggs or Girl Scout Cookies....If they were on the shelf year-round, you might pick up a box once a year. But since they only come out at a particular time...you crave it all year and then buy 10 boxes when they finally arrive. Those creme eggs are delicious!!!
spiderboi
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 9:51:45 AM
Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 10:41:58 AM
...their popularity had nothing to do with the fact that Guitar Hero and Rock Band expanded on that basic principle, added a sh**-ton of licensed music to which the mainstream can attach, and oh yes, brought it into the HOME.
Your loyalty to arcades is touching, but it's also misguided.
WorldEndsWithMe
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 12:25:03 PM
CrusaderForever
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 8:06:13 AM
Reply
swapnilgyani
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 8:23:49 AM
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On a different note, this article reminds me of another developer's dilemma - Tim Schafer's Double Fine studio.
Brutal Legend was a really good game, but it didn't sell that well. A lot of people hated the RTS element of the game, and those portions did seem a bit out of place. I wonder how the game would have been received if those RTS elements were replaced with Guitar Hero-like mechanics - something rhythmic / musical, that blends very well with the overall feel of the game.
spiderboi
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 9:53:55 AM
CrusaderForever
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 10:49:55 AM
Fane1024
Friday, February 11, 2011 @ 5:34:39 AM
A2K78
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 12:49:01 PM
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People could tolerate sequels up to a point that eventually sales begin to regress and regardless of how often a sequel appear. Why do you think Namco have been complaining about Ace Combat's declining sales:
http://www.play.tm/news/32005/namco-we-hurt-ace-combat-with-iterative-sequels
Lairfan
Thursday, February 10, 2011 @ 4:19:32 PM
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I do find it laughable though that they cancelled True Crime cause it wasn't "top-tier" enough. Why the hell didn't they cancel Modern Warfare 2 and Black Ops if they want top-tier games? Oh yeah, I forgot, its CoD, the massive sales figures MUST mean its one of the "best" games out there.
Add that to the brand recognition, and its becomes pretty clear why they didn't want to risk anything on a relatively unknown series like True Crime. Too bad they won't be getting my money now, but hey, you win some you lose some. And it seems this gen that you'll be losing a lot with me, Activision.
Last edited by Lairfan on 2/10/2011 4:20:13 PM

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kevinater321
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Wednesday, February 09, 2011 @ 9:27:24 PM