Guitar Hero team among 500 layoffs confirmed in a financial report.
The Guitar Hero team at Activision has been disbanded, and the 2011 game release has been cancelled. The series will continue only through downloadable content. This is due to declining sales in the music game genre. The DJ Hero series meets the same fate, as the entire music division will close down.
"Despite a remarkable 92 rating on DJ Hero 2, a well-regarded Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, as well as a 90-plus release from our most direct competitor, demand for peripheral based music games declined at a dramatic pace," CEO of Activision Publishing Eric Hirshberg stated.
Development of the shooter, True Crime: Hong Kong, due for release in 2011 has also been cancelled. There will not be a Tony Hawk game released this year as all music and skateboarding releases have been cancelled.
It is not clear yet exactly how the company-wide 500 employee cut will affect Guitar Hero developers Vicarious Visions or DJ Hero developers Freestyle Games. A resource refocus means that a new studio, Beachhead, will be created to handle online community, content and services for the Call of Duty games.