"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," the company said in its fourth quarter earnings report.

The move also covers "DJ Hero" games, and Activision said it will also 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 said.

In a FAQ posted on its Web site, Activision said that based on current demand, the company could not profit from the "Guitar Hero" franchise because of licensing and manufacturing costs.

Activision will continue to sell Guitar and DJ Hero games, including the recently released "Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock," and "DJ Hero 2." It will also sell and support already released DLC track and mix packs.

In November, Axl Rose and Guns 'N' Roses filed a $20 million suit against Activision Blizzard for the use of "Welcome to the Jungle" in a 2007 game.

Activision had better luck last year with its "Call of Duty" and "World of Warcraft" franchises.

"World of Warcraft: Cataclysm," which launched on December 7, sold 3.3 million copies worldwide in its first 24 hours and sold 4.7 million in its first month. As of December 31, "World of Warcraft" has 12 million subscribers.

"Call of Duty: Black Ops," meanwhile, has hit more than $1 billion in retail sales worldwide. Activision released the first Xbox Live add-on pack for the game on February 1, dubbed "First Strike." It set records by nabbing 1.4 million downloads in the first 24 hours, a 25 percent increase over last year's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" add-on. The "Black Ops" add-on will be available on the PlayStation 3 on March 3 and for PCs later in the quarter.

This article, written by Chloe Albanesius, originally appeared on PCMag.com and is republished on Gear Live with the permission of ZDNet.