Activision Plans 'Guitar Hero: Metallica'

Activision (ATVI Quote) formally announced plans to release a new Guitar Hero game by the end of the first quarter of next year, according to a regulatory filing.

The video game maker said in a 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it plans to deliver Guitar Hero: Metallica in fiscal 2009, which closes next March 31. Shares of Activision were lately up 9 cents, or 0.3%, to $33.66.

Previously, Activision announced the forthcoming release of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and Guitar Hero IV for several consoles, including the Sony (SNE Quote) Playstation 3, Microsoft's (MSFT Quote) Xbox 360 and Nintendo's (NTDOY Quote) Wii, as well as Guitar Hero: On Tour for the Nintendo DS.

"We also expect to increase our titles across multiple platforms to take advantage of the expected growth of different hardware platforms in fiscal 2009," the company said in the filing. "As a result, we anticipate net revenues will increase in fiscal 2009 in comparison to the record net revenues achieved in fiscal 2008."

Guitar Hero has been a winning franchise for Activision, with the latest title in the series, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, selling more than 1.4 million copies within a week of its release, according to research firm NPD.

Among other video game makers, Electronic Arts (ERTS Quote) was tacking on 0.3%, while Take-Two Interactive (TTWO Quote) was off 0.4%.