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Activision Cancels True Crime: Hong Kong and Planned 2011 Guitar Hero Title
by Xav de Matos, Feb 09, 2011 10:30pm PSTActivision has just announced it has halted development on the open-world, action title True Crime: Hong Kong and a new game in the Guitar Hero franchise.
According to the release, Activision has decided to disband its Guitar Hero-specific business unit and cancel development on a Guitar Hero title slated for release later this year "due to continued declines in the music genre."
According to Eurogamer, teams focusing on development of both the Guitar Hero and DJ Hero franchises have been hit with job cuts. Although numbers were not made specific, nor were job losses even mentioned in the Activision financial release, sources at Eurogamer say developer FreeStyleGames [DJ Hero 2] has been hit with "severe layoffs." FreeStyleGames was purchased by Activision in 2008.
Reports of any layoffs have yet to be confirmed. Shacknews will update this post if new information becomes available.
Activision noted that the decision to cancel both titles was "based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world's best interactive entertainment experiences."
Comments
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They lost $233 million in the quarter ending December 2010. That was the same quarter that had spectacular sales success stories like Call of Duty: Black Ops and World of Warcraft: Cataclysm. I'm looking forward to some in-depth analysis on the earnings call, but that's pretty scary, where the quarter with the "biggest entertainment launch ever" and an expansion for the biggest MMO wasn't enough for Activision to go profitable in the quarter.
I thought that Guitar Hero was getting old back when Guitar Hero 5 was announced. This year, both Rock Band 3 and Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock didn't sell as well as their publishers wanted.
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Does anyone at Activision actually think long term?
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Special Announcements:
TRUE CRIME: We are sorry we did not get a chance to complete this project with Activision, but we understand why. We are both committed to doing quality games and nothing less. Maybe we will have a chance to work together in the future, but in the meantime we are setting our creative sights on a different horizon. You can keep up with the latest developments at UFG here on our site.
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at least that's the most substantial rumor i heard about a new title in the genre.
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