So basically Axedivision is closing Bizzare Creations, Neversoft, Freestyle, and reducing Radical by half or more. Did I forget anyone?
There were layoffs at Ravensoft a while back.
According to Gamasutra, Neversoft is still largely intact and working on a new IP.
No, the last Radical halving was almost exactly one year ago (they still have 6 months before the next one!). True Crime was being done by independent studio United Front Games, which was founded by ex-Radicalites that were mostly laid off during the first halving of Radical, right after the Acti-Blizz merger.
Duty: The Call Thereof.
Depends on the contracts signed but I wouldn’t be surprised if Activision keeps anyone they can locked up to try and grab some tail end sales and maybe a bit of DLC. There’s very little reason for them to let any of them go if they can keep them for nothing.
You could see this coming a mile away. Way to run yet another franchise into the ground!
Hey if it makes more room for Rock Band to continue then I’m all for it. Sorry for the people who got laid off, but if the market isn’t big enough for Acti-Blizzard’s financial requirements then I’m glad they got out and let RB do their thing.
One thing that I missed was a mention that the entire music games division shut down. (Can’t remember the article right now.) Does that mean DJ Hero is dead too?
DJ Hero was DOA, why would they keep it?
They got a sequel and the PR announcements to date have said they did fine. I also read a lot of good things about DJ Hero 2…
Not that I own the game(s) or particularly care. Just wondering if it got buried in the headline that GH is dead.
[EDIT]Looks like there’s confirmation that DJ Hero is dead too. 7 Studios is confirmed closed, etc. etc. [/EDIT]
He also believes that Activision’s employee headcount has kept the company a step ahead of its rhythm game competitors.
“Our next-nearest competitor has a couple of hundred people working on these projects,” said Kotick. “We have close to 2000 people just dedicated to the Guitar Hero note tracking, introduction of new hardware, introduction of new software, and so we just have a lot more in the way of resources available to us to continue to dominate the category.”
Activision has over a dozen titles released or planned for its multiplatform Guitar Hero franchise, including spin-offs and portable titles, compared to Rock Band’s sole release for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and Wii.
I’ll miss DJ Hero, but I won’t miss having to find space to bulk-stack all these stupid plastic instruments in my store.
Are there any extra info regarding Bungie’s new title?
Yup: http://www.gamasutra.com/view/news/32968/Report_7_Studios_To_Close_As_Activision_Realigns.php
7 Studios closed. I used to work there, it wasn’t the best place, but it had some good people there, so I hope everyone lands on their feet.
The article I read (http://www.cnn.com/2011/TECH/gaming.gadgets/02/10/guitar.hero.went.wrong.mashable/) bothers me, because it’s premise is that Guitar Hero’s success was all due to Red Octane!
It’s the same across the board, with potentially worse twists like that one that emphasize the Actiblizzard in the equation. Probably a generational thing, where eventually the pronouncements of noted internet idiot Pachter will not be taken as gospel in between copypasting press releases.
Can’t say I didn’t see this one coming a mile off.
Guitar Hero 5 General Angst Thread
Guitar Hero 6 “does anyone even give a crap any more” Warriors of Rock
Thanks for that retrospective from 2.5yrs ago, JD.
Activision has over a dozen titles released or planned for its multiplatform Guitar Hero franchise, including spin-offs and portable titles, compared to Rock Band’s sole release for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PlayStation 2, and Wii.
Earlier this week, Kotick revealed that the publisher intends to triple the amount of its total released Guitar Hero games and content by 2010.
Towards that end, the company has no fewer than seven studios working on the Guitar Hero franchise.
Jesus. I know hindsight is 20/20 but are Kotick and all the investors brain dead?
I know music games have declined, but I hope the investors see that Rock Band is still alive so that Kotick has to at least take some accountability.
Well, I guess this answers whether or not DJ Hero is screwed: http://www.djhero.com/en-us/community/news/637?tab=news
Are you still going to make new DLC for Guitar/DJ Hero?
We will release the previously announced DLC track and mix packs for February, but - unfortunately - we will not be able to release new DLC packs beyond what we already have.
It’s a damn shame HMX doesn’t seem to have the capability to say, “Hey, we’re still here!” amid all the Guitar Hero = Rhythm Genre = Dead talk hitting mainstream news.