Yes, you heard it right. No thanks to “continued declines in the music genre,” Activision yesterday announced alongside its financial report to investors, that it plans to not only “discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011″ (killing the franchise, in short) but also to “disband Activision Publishing’s Guitar Hero business unit.” Yes, the whole ‘Hero’ department is getting fired.

“Due to continued declines in the music genre, the company will disband Activision Publishing’s Guitar Hero business unit and discontinue development on its Guitar Hero game for 2011,” Activision said in its financial statement. The statement goes on to confirm the cancellation of True Crime. “The company also will stop development on True Crime: Hong Kong. These decisions are based on the desire to focus on the greatest opportunities that the company currently has to create the world’s best interactive entertainment experiences.”

Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg went into a bit more detail on today’s investor call:

“Despite a remarkable 92 rating on DJ Hero 2, a widely well-regarded Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, as well as a 90-plus rated release from our most direct competitor [Rock Band 3], demand for peripheral-based music games declined at a dramatic pace. Given the considerable licensing and manufacturing costs associated with this genre, we simply cannot make these games profitably based on current economics and demand. Instead, what we’ll do is focus our time and energies on marketing and supporting our strong catalog of titles and downloadable content, especially to new consumers as the installed base for hardware continues to grow.”

But what about the DJ Hero franchise, and the promising DJ Hero 3D, you ask? “We will release no new music or skateboarding games,” CFO Thomas Tippl said of this calendar year. It certainly appears the franchise is dead, but some insist it’s simply taking a year off.

What about upcoming DLC?

The question specifically asked, “Are you still going to make new DLC for Guitar/DJ Hero?” at the official DJ Hero website FAQ was given the answer “We will release the previously announced DLC track and mix packs for February, but – unfortunately,” a FAQ answer on the official DJ Hero website states, “we will not be able to release new DLC packs beyond what we already have.” Of course, existing DLC will remain available (for now) and existing games will remain available at retail (for now).

Not clear enough? Well, Activision is very determined to end your hopes as that one FAQ question was asked and answered twice, at the beginning and end, bookending the official response with a rather ominous message. “Does this mean you’re no longer making Guitar (and/or DJ) Hero games?” And here’s their answer, “Over the past two years, we have seen rapid declines in the music genre, and unfortunately, based on current demand, we simply cannot continue to profitably make these games given the considerable licensing and manufacturing costs.”

Well, RIP Guitar Hero. You shall be missed.

SOURCE via DJHero