'Guitar Hero: Metallica' rumored for next year

The next installment of Activision, Inc.'s (NASDAQ: ATVI) Guitar Hero franchise, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, is coming out this month, but that has not stopped rumors about future installments, namely one based on the music and career of Metallica. No official announcement from Activision has been made, but Billboard cites a recent SEC filing and a Gamespot post that fuels the rumor. According to Gamespot, the new game is the second rumored title relating to Metallica, a vehicle-based shooting game was announced and canceled a few years ago.

Guitar Hero 4, now known as Guitar Hero: On Tour, is expected for release later this year, but if speculation is correct then a Metallica-based game could see release next summer similar to the release schedule for the Aerosmith version. On Tour will feature a full compliment of instruments like the Rock Band game. Guitar Hero: Aerosmith follows the career of the band from their beginnings in Boston and uses the band's music prominently, "along with a smattering of songs from bands that Aerosmith wanted included." Aerosmith appears in the game as motion-captured animated versions of themselves.

Like Aerosmith, a Metallica-based game would provide a lengthy career storyline to follow, as well as numerous songs that have remained a staple of the band's live acts over the years. It would also present an interesting case to examine success with Metallica since the band seems doomed forever due to band member's stances on illegal music trading and Napster in the late 1990s. Not that the band does not have a large and loyal fan base, but the lasting stigma from that debacle has not abated in the last few years.