Activision plans on shipping less product into the crowded music game genre next year, but that doesn't mean you won't be getting new Guitar Hero, Band Hero and DJ Hero titles in 2010.
Dan Rosensweig, CEO of Activision's Guitar Hero business, tells MCV that we will "probably see fewer SKUs" from the publisher in the company's 2010 slate, "but the focus on making the best-selling, most fun to play, best-reviewed games will continue."
"[There will be] more DJ Hero, and the next iterations of Guitar and Band are on the way," Rosensweig says. "But we will see how the market plays out. What you will see is the games will live longer and be more vibrant through DLC."
When you ship over 25 games featuring the Hero brand—Guitar Hero: Metallica, Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero: Van Halen, Guitar Hero: Smash Hits, Band Hero, DJ Hero—and do so with multiple SKUs of each title—full band kits, guitar only bundles, "Renegade Edition" turntables—and you've reached over 9,000 individual SKUs. Maybe not. My math may be off.
Regardless, it might be difficult not to ship less. Especially when a company like Activision takes a look at the sales of titles like DJ Hero and notices that the PlayStation 2 version only sold 3,300 copies at launch.
Heroic Deeds [MCV via Joystiq]