Guitar Hero was a "fad," Acti won't "strip-mine" CoD

Analysts have responded to rampant consumer concern over the future of the Call of Duty franchise following Activision's shelving of Guitar Hero, describing the situations as incomparable.

Speaking to IndustryGamers, DFC Intelligence's David Cole said the only similarity between the two franchises is Activision's financial situation.

"I really think the situations with COD and GH are hard to compare, except for the fact that as a public company there is definite pressure to show a steady revenue generating product line," he said.

Wedbush's Michael Pachter agreed, stating, "I don't think they are comparable at all."

Both analysts described Guitar Hero's appeal as part of a "fad".

M2's Billy Pidgeon called Activision's handling of the Guitar Hero franchise "strip-mining", and described it as a "successful, risk-averse strategy" which earned the publisher "good money".

"(Activision) is learning to execute this strategy with greater efficiency each go-round," Pidgeon added, suggesting the strategy is a familiar one.

"It was somewhat the same issue as extreme sports and hunting games," Cole agreed, adding, "FPS games are a long proven genre and thus don't seem to have fallen into that fad issue."

EEDAR's Jesse Divnich, Lizard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian, and Janco Partners' Mike Hickey also weighed in on the question. All the consulted analysts concurred on Activision's successful capitalisation on the music game gold rush.

Activision announced at its Q3 financials that it had cancelled the Guitar Hero franchise effective immediately.

The series had spawned over twenty releases since inception in 2005.