Kelly Summer, former CEO of RedOctane, has lashed out at Activision for the cancellation of the Guitar Hero series, stating that it could easily have continued, but the publisher abused the property. I think we all got that impression.
“[Activision] tried to get too much out of the franchise too quickly. They abused it,” he said. “There’s no reason why Guitar Hero cannot continue. It’s a great product. My gut tells me there is still a significant market for Guitar Hero.
“Not every game can be a billion dollar franchise, but maybe that’s what Activision wants. I’d be surprised if they sold the brand as it’d prove to the world there is still a market for this product and show them up. Look at how Take-Two has handled GTA. They haven’t thrown products out there. They’ve nurtured it for over ten years and it is still a strong franchise.”
Kelly, of course, has hit the nail on the head. Activision puts me in mind of a child with no self-discipline. It wants everything to make billions, and it wants those billions immediately. It will discard any game it doesn’t think can be a major franchise, and tries to rush out endless product for those games that it does. It’s pretty bloody infantile, really.
Activision ‘abused’ Guitar Hero, says ex-boss [CVG, MCV]
