Lawsuits, big-money licensing, and declining sales: these were what lead to the inevitable end of the Guitar Hero game series. Earlier this month, Activision, the game’s publisher, released a statement that it would cease producing Guitar Hero and its spinoff game series DJ Hero due to poor sales. How this extraordinary role playing game rose to a marketing phenomenon is a story of interest. Heck, since November 2005, its fans waited annually for a new release in the same way bibliophiles yearned for the next Harry Potter book.
Within the record sales industry there was a wholesome revival of rock album purchases. Nickelodeon-generation kids were thrashing and burning to “Killer Queen” and snapping strings on “Billion Dollar Baby.” With the cool selection of songs as well as that Rickenbacker-shaped joystick, Guitar Hero had quite an influence bridging the gap between these kids and the rocker generation that preceded them.
By 2008, Hero’s competitor Rock Band had picked up some steam, and its legal team was negotiating like mad to license songs from record companies. Apparently, the average payout to use a master recording was $25,000, and it was $10,000 to secure the rights of a cover. With all the dozens of Guitar Hero games requiring this exchange of money, it didn’t take a business analyst to say this could be seen as wasteful spending or largess.
What gamers didn’t see is all the behind-the-scenes sausage making, and the already-existing battle artists such as Jimmy Page and Prince endure with record labels. Both musical legends weren’t the least bit worried about the hefty paychecks they could’ve pocketed. To Page, the idea on of an outsider — Activision — gaining access to the masters is a reality not unlike a vampire drinking holy water. The Led Zeppelin guitarist oversees the remastering and remixing of the band’s songs.
To Prince, Guitar Hero play would be a compromise to what he thinks should be the artistic desires of young people. While his marketing team built solid relationships with KFC and Todd McFarlane Toys, Prince simply thinks that young wannabe rockers should just learn how to play guitar.
While the web was flooded with adieus and RIPs earlier this month, it’s not certain whether Guitar Hero and DJ Hero, for that matter, will make a comeback. Activision was ambitious in its marketing ingenuity; observers and writers speculate that the game publisher did too much too soon. If anything, young video gamers who love Metal are now inspired to get down to brass tacks on Aerosmith’s catalog. It will be no surprise if the game publisher comes back with a new business model that will help sustain the Guitar Hero business unit.
Don’t hold your breath though. There’s a shitload of songs to rock out to in the meantime.
