A short statement from developer Freestyle Games says that despite Activision shuttering Guitar Hero, no jobs have been cut on DJ Hero … yet.
Just a few years ago, it seemed that music videogames were going to rule the world, or at least the gaming industry. Profits on Guitar Hero 3 and Rock Band were through the roof, with huge margins on the expensive full sets netting Activision and Viacom a boatload of cash. But the genre grew too fast, and consumers tired of the novelty as highly regarded games like The Beatles: Rock Band and DJ Hero failed to sell well. Activision announced today that they were closing down most of its Guitar Hero operations, laying off close to 500 workers, but the developers of DJ Hero wanted to make it clear that they are still in business.
“We’re actively working with Activision on various options going forward for the studio. No decisions have been taken at this stage. We appreciate everyone’s support through this process and will be as open and transparent as possible as soon as we know more,” read the statement from FreeStyle Games cofounders David Osbourn, Jamie Jackson and Chris Lee.
Despite inexplicably combining two incongruous phrases – “decisions have been made” with “steps have been taken” – the trio seems confident that a deal can be made with Activision for FreeStyle to continue to make games. Whether that means staff cuts at the company or not remains to be seen.
Source: Gamesindustry.biz
Published: Feb 10, 2011 05:44 pm