Today is indeed a dark day for lovers of plastic guitars. Activision has officially pulled the plug on the "Guitar Hero" franchise after years of flagging sales, capped by the dismal performance of "Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock." The news was delivered in Activision's earnings release, which also stated that "True Crime: Hong Kong" would also be cancelled. Layoffs have been reported at United Front Games, the developer behind "True Crime," as well as Vicarious Visions, the developer responsible for the Wii version of "Warriors of Rock."
Regarding the cancellation of the "Guitar Hero" franchise, the report said: "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." The report also confirmed the cancellation of "True Crime: Hong Kong," saying that "these decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world's best interactive entertainment experiences."
Considering "True Crime: Hong Kong" had been in development since 2009, it's a pretty extreme move for Activision to make. That said, no one outside of the publisher and developer had seen any significant portion of the game (beyond what was shown at E3 last year), and it's possible that progress was stalled enough for Activision to decide to cut their losses on the project.
Despite the cuts, the earnings report does show that Activision is looking to expand in other ways. The report hints at "the development of a best-in-class digital community surrounding the Call of Duty franchise," which sounds a lot like their take on a Bungie.net-type infrastructure.
There's also mention of Bungie's new post-Halo franchise, as well as an "innovative new universe with broad appeal that will be revealed at Toy Fair later this week and will bring the world of toys, video games and the Internet together in an unprecedented way."
Regarding that new franchise, Activision is planning on having a pre-Toy Fair event for its debut. The invite sent out to journalists describes project as a "revolutionary new video game that combines imaginative play and cutting-edge technology to deliver an all-new interactive experience for kids!" There's also a large picture of a castle on the invite, as if that gives us any clues.
It's certainly a shame that many people will likely be laid off over these cuts, but it shouldn't come as a shock to anyone that the rhythm genre has hit a rough patch in recent months. Viacom (MTV's parent company) sold off Harmonix, the makers of "Rock Band," and grim sales reports for "Guitar Hero" have all but indicated doom and gloom unless serious changes were made. Apparently those serious changes involved the total cancellation of the franchise.