Earlier this year, Activision effectively killed off Guitar Hero and DJ Hero. We can’t say we didn’t see it coming. The franchise had not sold as well as it had in the past, and people were just getting tired of hoarding plastic peripherals every time Activision got a bright idea for a new gameplay feature. You may be surprised to know that Activision isn’t done with Guitar Hero yet. It’s coming back, but it will be different.

First, Activision declared Guitar Hero dead. Then, it said that the series was gone, but it would still provide a few more DLC track packs after over 3 million people “liked” the official Facebook Guitar Hero page. Now the series is apparently just taking a little break. Make up your mind Activision Blizzard…

At the end of February 2011, Activision stated that it would continue releasing track DLC for Guitar Hero after a substantial number of fans came forward to show their support for the series. Well, it’s just released a new track pack called Modern Rock Mega Pack. I guess it’s time to show Activision you meant it when you “liked” Guitar Hero on Facebook – all 3 million of you…

The Hero franchise is not going down without a fight. Following Activision’s announcement that said the Guitar Hero business unit was disbanded, it seemed both Guitar Hero and DJ Hero had reached their inevitable end. All hope was seemingly squashed when Activision said neither game would receive downloadable songs after February. Well, you just can’t keep a good game down. Fans of both franchises came out of the woodwork to support the games they thought would be gone forever. Through their efforts, Guitar Hero and DJ Hero will be around for a little while longer.

Upon learning of the cancellation of the Guitar Hero franchise, everyone started debating on what went wrong. We know the plastic instrument-based genre had fallen on hard times, but what exactly led to that reality? A lot of people will tell you Activision squeezed the franchise dry after releasing a large number of Guitar Hero games in a short period of time. One of those people is Kelly Sumner, who used to be the CEO of RedOctane.

Since Guitar Hero has gone by the wayside, several developers from Vicarious Visions have been let go. It’s suspected that it’s only a matter of time before FreeStyleGames suffers a similar fate. The former employees of Activision have been receiving condolences and well wishes all day. Among the well wishers is the team at Harmonix, who provided Guitar Hero with its greatest competition.

A report from Develop claims that around 50 employees have been laid off from Vicarious Visions. Vicarious Visions has been an Activision owned developer since 2005. This news comes less than a day after Activision announced it was closing its Guitar Hero business unit and laying off 7% of its global workforce. The total number of employees that have been dismissed from Vicarious Visions accounts for at least 25% of staff.

There was so much news to come out of Activision’s earnings call with investors yesterday, you would think there was a big convention going on. Activision made several cuts to employees, announced new services and outlined what games it and Blizzard will be producing over the next couple years. In case you missed out on the announcements, we’ve put everything together for you in one easy to find place.

Earlier today, it was reported that Activision made extensive cuts throughout its organization. First of all, the Guitar Hero franchise is no more. Activision felt it was not financially responsible to continue the Guitar Hero franchise due to declining demand of music games in the videogame industry. Activision also canceled True Crime: Hong Kong, which was being developed by United Front Games. Furthermore, layoffs were reported to hit the developers of Guitar Hero and DJ Hero.

A report from Eurogamer ahead of Activision’s upcoming financial report has brought grim news. Activision has apparently gone on a cost cutting spree, effectively killing off the Guitar Hero franchise and canceling True Crime: Hong Kong. True Crime: Hong Kong was in development by United Front Games and was scheduled to be released this year.