Guitar Hero dev confirms DJ Hero

In February, then-independent Activision filed an application to trademark DJ Hero. While significant, the application in and of itself was merely a sign of possibility, not a signal of intent, as has been seen with other unacted-upon trademark filings for rhythm games, such as Guitar Villain and Drum Villain.

Today, that possibility became a near certainty. In an interview with gaming blog Joystiq, Guitar Hero World Tour project director Brian Bright revealed that Activision Blizzard is indeed working on a music rhythm game dedicated to the club scene.

"Activision's doing a DJ Hero game, and I can't comment on what we're doing," he casually revealed in response to a question about what's next for Neversoft after World Tour. "But...we're working on the future and next gen. If I wasn't excited about it, I wouldn't be there."

Bright's statement comes as the first official confirmation for the game, though speculation and leaks have already revealed a number of unverified details. In September, alleged tipsters told Kotaku that the game was expected to arrive next summer and will integrate both a turntable-style controller and Guitar Hero guitars. The controller, which sources claimed was on its sixth iteration, reportedly includes a scratch platter, three buttons for sampling, a cross fader, and a sound-effects dial.

As per Kotaku's sources, the game is in development at B-Boy studio FreeStyleGames, which Activision Blizzard bought outright in September. At that time, the publisher said that FreeStyle was at work on localized downloadable content for Guitar Hero as well as a new intellectual property in the rhythm genre.