Just under two years ago, the Guitar Hero franchise was riding high, having racked up over $2 billion in sales from its various installments. However, the intervening period has seen its fortunes fall, with sales plummeting to the point that the latest installment in the series, Warriors of Rock, sold fewer than 100,000 copies during its debut month last September.
As a result of the franchise's weakening, Activision shut down original publisher RedOctane and hit former developer Neversoft with layoffs. Today, though, comes word that the series may have paid the ultimate price. According to the company's latest financial report, the 2011 installment of the game has been axed, and "the company will disband Activision Publishing's Guitar Hero business unit." The company also confirmed that the DJ Hero series is being discontinued.
Another series headed for the chopping block is True Crime, a move that comes before the next game in the series, True Crime: Hong Kong, had even hit the market. The open-world crime game had been set to be released for the PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 later this year. It had been in development at Canadian studio United Front Games (ModNation Racers).
