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Guitar Hero Live News: Freestyle Games Hit By Layoffs Is GH Live Over?

235 views · Published 3 April 2016 · 1:42 · Indexed 26 October 2026

Channel: Rock N' Roll True Stories · 2016 · Gaming

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"As previous reports had suggested, Guitar Hero Live developer Freestyle Games has been hit by a string of layoffs. At the time of writing, Activision didn’t disclose the exact number of employees affected. 

In accordance with UK labor laws, a mandatory “consolation” period is the reason behind the delayed reaction, though the publisher confirmed to Game Informer that the redundancies are an effort to restructure the studio “following a dip in causal game performance.”

Activision and FreeStyleGames leadership have been considering a range of future options for the studio, and have been consulting with staff to explore all alternatives. The collective team have now reached the end of a consultation exercise and the decision has been made to restructure FreeStyleGames to better align the studio resources with future business needs. We are working with the studio teams to explore options to rebalance staff within Activision Blizzard and its related organisations.

The UK remains a key market for Activision Blizzard and FreeStyleGames continues to be a great partner. We thank all of the team for their continued passion, creativity and commitment.

Support for Guitar Hero Live will continue via the Guitar Hero TV component, with Activision noting that Freestyle will remain open despite today’s layoffs. " - Playstation Lifestyle 

"Activision has confirmed that it will restructure Guitar Hero developer FreeStyleGames, but is looking to rehouse staff where it can.

The team, which has also worked on DJ Hero and Call of Duty Online, recently completed work on the new Guitar Hero Live project.

Activision didn’t give any details about anticipated redundancies, but admitted it would be aligning the studio's resources and that it would be looking to ‘rebalance staff’ within the organisation.

The publisher adds that  FreeStyleGames ‘continues to be a great partner’.

“Activision and FreeStyleGames leadership have been considering a range of future options for the studio, and have been consulting with staff to explore all alternatives,” the company said in a statement.

“The collective team have now reached the end of a consultation exercise and the decision has been made to restructure FreeStyleGames to better align the studio resources with future business needs. We are working with the studio teams to explore options to rebalance staff within Activision Blizzard and its related organisations.

“The UK remains a key market for Activision Blizzard and FreeStyleGames continues to be a great partner. We thank all of the team for their continued passion, creativity and commitment."

Activision announced in its last financial call that Guitar Hero Live, despite being critically well received, didn’t perform as expected. It will continue to release content for the game, but currently doesn’t plan to release a new game this console generation.  

It will come as another disappointing blow to UK studios, as this restructure follows recent closure announcements for Microsoft's Lionhead and Sony's Evolution studios." - mcvuk

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