Rumor: DJ Hero in the Works

DJ Hero, a turntable-based music-rhythm game, is in the works at recent Activision acquisition FreeStyleGames, according to reports that surfaced over the weekend.

According to Kotaku, which first broke the story, the game will feature "all mash-ups" and a turntable controller with three rhythm buttons, a cross-fader and sound-effects dials similar to the whammy bar in Guitar Hero.

Today, MTV corroborated Kotaku's story and added that the mash-up mechanic created a "licensing nightmare" for publisher Activision. The game is expected to be available next summer, and seems to fit with comments recently made by Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith.

"The key to Guitar Hero franchise is innovation," Griffith said during the company's recent Analyst Day event. "We have a step-change innovation plan already in development, that takes our game experience in new and exciting directions, which we'll announce at a later date." Other musical genres would be candidates for expansion, he postulated.

The existence of DJ Hero has long been rumored from a number of Activision trademarks filed last year which included "Band Hero" and "Guitar Villain," among others. FreeStyleGames is known to be working on a new game to add to Activision's expanding music game portfolio.