Activision preps Guitar Hero encores

Publisher pledges to triple yearly output of rhythm games released by 2010, teases next big thing.

Activision purchased the Guitar Hero franchise in 2006 along with original publisher Red Octane. The acquisition cost the publisher nearly $100 million, with an additional $51 million thrown in if the outfit met certain performance markers. Earlier this year, Activision announced that the series had surpassed the $1 billion sales threshold.

At a presentation for analysts yesterday, the publisher confirmed that it wasn't quite through with its epic "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" financial-windfall drum solo. Activision Publishing president Mike Griffith told the assembled analysts that next year, the company would be doubling 2008's number of Guitar Hero SKUs. (The same game appearing on three different platforms would be counted by retailers as three stock-keeping units, or SKUs.) The publisher wants to keep up that pace of expansion, and Griffith said that in 2010, Activision Blizzard plans to release almost triple this year's number of Guitar Hero SKUs.

"We've learned that the consumer still has an insatiable appetite for more," Griffith said.

Backing up that claim was a variety of factoids that emerged during the presentation. Griffith said that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith generated more revenue than any of the band's actual albums. Universal Music Group president Zach Horowitz told the audience that he's seen songs that have appeared in Guitar Hero boost their average sales many times over, with Weezer's "My Name is Jonas" in particular receiving a 1,000 percent sales jump in the 13 weeks after its Guitar Hero debut.

And though the upcoming World Tour marks the expansion of the game into a four-piece band game that includes drums and vocals, Griffith teased that the next big jump is just around the corner.

"Beyond this, we have a step-change innovation plan already in development that takes our game experience in new and exciting directions...which we'll announce at a later date," Griffith said.

116 Comments

  • alex52694

    Posted Sep 28, 2008 12:00 pm PT

    "We've learned that the consumer still has an insatiable appetite for more," Griffith said. -Wow... no comment.

  • revczar

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 3:22 pm PT

    "Griffith said that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith generated more revenue than any of the band's actual albums"

    lets take in consideration a cd sales around $15 and a game sales at $60 and if a cd and the game sales the same amount i wonder what would make more

  • mcmanus108

    Posted Sep 27, 2008 10:29 am PT

    go rock band

  • machineares

    Posted Sep 24, 2008 2:36 pm PT

    This is disgusting. Activision is worthless and has sucked the fun and interesting community out of music games. There's already too many bulls*it games flooding the market, and now they're doing even more?

  • megamaster32

    Posted Sep 19, 2008 7:35 pm PT

    I agree about the aerosmith they did had alot of encores I just cant wait for this game the death the metallica new album can be on there to if you download it

  • rybread13

    Posted Sep 19, 2008 10:32 am PT

    Rock on Activision, keep rolling out the gold!!

  • flynow

    Posted Sep 19, 2008 3:24 am PT

    And thus every week you should put 50% of your entire allowance into ATVI. In 35 years you will be able to retire rich, happy, and able to play games for the rest of your life.

  • funnysplay

    Posted Sep 18, 2008 2:10 pm PT

    Good i liked Weezer's "My Name is Jonas"

  • mechranma

    Posted Sep 18, 2008 11:38 am PT

    "Symphony Hero! Whoo!
    Let's get a 90-instrument custom edition!"

    I call the cello!

  • KuroriKenshin

    Posted Sep 18, 2008 8:54 am PT

    So basically this is saying the Gamestop bargain bin is going to be overflowing with Guitar Hero titles that one wants to fork out the money for continuously.

  • BlueKazoo20

    Posted Sep 18, 2008 8:27 am PT

    "Universal Music Group president Zach Horowitz told the audience that he's seen songs that have appeared in Guitar Hero boost their average sales many times over, with Weezer's "My Name is Jonas" in particular receiving a 1,000 percent sales jump in the 13 weeks after its Guitar Hero debut."

    This I believe. There are a few songs on my iPod that would've never been there at all if it wasn't for Guitar Hero (Cheap Trick's "Dream Police" is one of them). Apparently this game can be useful in introducing new songs and artists to people.

  • otanikun

    Posted Sep 18, 2008 6:22 am PT

    I am a huge Guitar Hero fan and at first this seemed like an awesome thing, but now I've actually decided to ask myself and everybody else this question;

    Why?

    I mean, sure Aerosmith may have been a modest success, but what kinda " Encores" are we talking about here?
    Is it gonna follow the same formula as Rocks the 80's and feature a specific year or is it going to feature something like Hard rock over Classic or dance mixes of rock songs?

    I'd rather them stick with the general forumla of full stand alone games than little enhanced features that should be available for download if we so choose to want/need them, according to "demand"

  • rpgisforme

    Posted Sep 18, 2008 6:15 am PT

    This is just me, but I have Rock Band and personally I prefer GH. The track list is awesome! I've already got my pre order in. BUT! We already have the whole band thing going so this idea of the next big jump scares me. Next you're gonna need back up dancers behind you to play, lol.

  • MasterFreinz

    Posted Sep 18, 2008 1:56 am PT

    "Griffith said that Guitar Hero: Aerosmith generated more revenue than any of the band's actual albums."

    lol

  • julianwelton

    Posted Sep 18, 2008 1:16 am PT

    @frogiggy: World Tour is also a name for when a band goes on tour around the world, but no the title couldn't be derived from that.

  • julianwelton

    Posted Sep 18, 2008 1:14 am PT

    @frogiggy323 World Tour is also a name for a cross country tour, that bands sometimes go on, but it couldn't be from that.

  • robtheguru

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 8:06 pm PT

    Would be nice to see some modern heavy metal in the game. Lamb of God, Machinehead, Devildriver...you get where im going

  • frogiggy323

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 6:46 pm PT

    I'm betting that "step-change innovation" is probably something to be copied off a futrue Rock Band game. I mean come on Guitar Hero "World Tour..." World Tour was the main freaking mode in Rock Band!

  • TissueShoe

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 5:55 pm PT

    Well they can't expect me to buy every single game of theirs, way too much money to spend yearly on a single franchise. I don't plan on ever getting instrument peripherals for the series again after World Tour.

  • LegendaryDante1

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 5:49 pm PT

    Symphony Hero! Whoo!
    Let's get a 90-instrument custom edition!

  • punkdsk8erdude

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 4:22 pm PT

    what the hell else could they be planning next thats a big jump? They already have a full band game. Whats next? Horns? Woodwinds? Violins? I mean really, cmon lol.

  • J-man45

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 3:23 pm PT

    Drum Hero should be their next game...lol

  • daveyf03

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 1:41 pm PT

    "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith generated more revenue than any of the band's actual albums."

    Can't really say this is surprising, just look at the price point. Besides everyone knows that any group worth their salt gets a lion's share of revenues from touring. Also imagine how much they would have made if the game actually had all of their hit songs in it.

  • battlfrnt2006

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 1:40 pm PT

    wow, just let it die...

    GH is soo last year lol

  • teirdome

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 1:31 pm PT

    Sickening.

    Not buying World Tour anymore. Which is sad because I don't find RB2 that satisfying. Not sure it's worth the 90s metacritic.

  • spasticus162

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 12:59 pm PT

    guitar hero has always half arsed with download content.Which is why i'll stick with rockband.
    Guitar hero seems to appeal more to the skilled hardcore player,rockband is for everyone.And the onlyway guitar hero is gonna keep all the hardcore on this board happy is to get harder and harder,which will alienate people like me who enjoy the game,(and has spent as much on these games as anybody)but just doesnt have the skill level that the hardest mode demands.Rockband is trying to appeal to people of all skill levels and to amore restricted degree musical taste(rockbands song selection seems more varied to me)Sorry to say but these games are gonna have to shift away a bit from the hardcore to remain successful.Hopefully guitar hero will take RB lead and make older games songlists compatable with GH world tour as changing disks all the time can get annoying,and we shouldnt have to keep buying new games that have songs from older games on them.

  • Dire_Weasel

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 12:08 pm PT

    I really, really prefer downloadable song packs that work with the original game than entire new expansions.

  • OrkHammer007

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 11:01 am PT

    Welcome to EActivision. Get ready to milk your franchise to death, or you're FIRED!!!

  • Sacred-Snow

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 10:54 am PT

    Stop teasing and just say, its stupid.

  • ClassicPlayer

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 10:45 am PT

    That last part, maybe DJ Hero (announced earlier this year), I hope GH WT is good, as well as GH Metallica.

  • Get_Shorty

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 10:33 am PT

    Uh oh the music industry is teaming up even more now with these rhythm games to try and squeeze every ounce of money we've got.

  • Ek-Andy

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 10:30 am PT

    "Activision Blizzard plans to release almost triple this year's number of Guitar Hero SKUs."

    21? Thats an awful lot.

  • JJpenguin

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 10:06 am PT

    This could go either way. If they do this properly and really go the extra mile to release quality songs, add in some updates, and give us a product that DESERVES a full price tag because it's good quality, not just because it's packed in a box and on store shelves, then i will support neversoft.

    However if this is just a way of ripping players off, then i have the choice to abstain and i will be purchasing RB.

    Aerosmith was a decent effort, just shy of my expectations, 5-10 more songs and a bit more history would have justified the cost

  • Kansas687

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 9:34 am PT

    It's not really milking. They really need all the tracks they can get just to keep up with Rock Band. Where RB released a year earlier plus has relased at least 3 new DLCs every week they have a modest lead in sheer volume of content. Guitar Hero is just trying to catch up. Its smart if you think about it.

  • CALBORN

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 9:26 am PT

    can they stop at a certain part and developing only a game, like keep giving new song rather than spending our money to buy a new name uz to play the song ??

  • Richmaester6907

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 9:05 am PT

    World tour and RB2 are mine woo

  • killzone_gamer

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 9:04 am PT

    Yay, more games like Aerosmith
    I was hoping they'd do that so I can get these yearly updates and play them with my GH3 axe instead of going the full hat and getting Wrold tour.

  • Stoffe1100

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 8:48 am PT

    I get world tour not rb2!!!

  • 4esth

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 8:01 am PT

    It's only milking if each one is the same. I'm all for new music, especially if they will be anything like GH: Metallica. So in this case, milking is a good thing, because I've run out and need more!

  • MonkeyWrench127

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 7:57 am PT

    Okay... firstly I must say I'm a massive guitar hero fan but why so many releases? This is milking a franchise to the extreme...

  • JBjazzbo

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 7:56 am PT

    GH: The Hold Steady next please please please please please please please

  • luigigreen

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 7:41 am PT

    Milking beyond belief. How many do you need to release?

  • narutoson666

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 7:06 am PT

    Dude Guitar hero rocks!

  • mylsd

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 6:36 am PT

    "Guitar Hero: Aerosmith generated more revenue than any of the band's actual albums" This coming from a multi-million dollar group like Aerosmith, that shows you how much the recording companies screw over the artists

  • jcloverboy

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 6:34 am PT

    We'll probably start seeing a new GH game every quarter now.

  • green11420

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 6:29 am PT

    That fact about Aerosmith is really funny.

  • klugenbeel

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 6:18 am PT

    GH: MEGADETH! GH: MEGADETH! GH: MEGADETH! What? A guy can dream can't he?

  • sweet1234

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 6:02 am PT

    money, money, money.....MONEY!

  • TheDanSandwich

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 5:48 am PT

    I would like to see GH Beatles or Led Zeppelin, although that's probably not going to happen.

  • football_legend

    Posted Sep 17, 2008 5:42 am PT

    I want Guitar Hero : Metal!

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