As part of a "realignment of resources" that affected a number of studios at Activision, RedOctane, the original publisher of Guitar Hero and the maker of all those plastic instruments cluttering your living area, has been closed, it was revealed recently. While most of the staff was laid off, some remaining members will now report straight to Activision, and apparently that does include RedOctane founders Kai and Charles Huang, according to Develop.
The Guitar Hero business has been relocated to Activision’s Santa Monica headquarters, and the Huang brothers (who founded RedOctane back in 19990 will now report to that location. It's unclear exactly what their roles will be. There's also some speculation that RedOctane could exist as a brand, even if the office itself is essentially closed (sort of like how Pandemic is continuing as a brand within EA).
Activision bought RedOctane back in 2006 for $100 million, and you all probably spent at least that much on Guitar Hero games and plastic peripherals since then. In fact, Guitar Hero as a franchise hit the $1 billion mark in January 2008.
