February was a dark time for video game publisher Activision Blizzard, which announced layoffs of 500 along with the shelving of its overused Guitar Hero brand.

Some media outlets, perhaps wishfully, concluded that Guitar Hero was dead forever, but an Activision exec tells GamesIndustry (link requires registration) that this is not so. Guitar Hero may have been driven into the ground, but only into a shallow grave that it can possibly one day claw its way out of.

Says the executive:

“Actually, just to clarify, we’re just putting Guitar Hero on hiatus, we’re not ending it,” Winters explained. “We’re releasing products out of the vault – we’ll continue to sustain the channel, the brand won’t go away. We’re just not making a new one for next year, that’s all.”

So cheer up, Guitar Hero fans, assuming there are more than one of you left. Your hopes for Guitar Hero: Better Than Ezra will spring eternal next year and beyond.

Activision: “Guitar Hero on hiatus, we’re not ending it” [GamesIndustry (requires registration) via Kotaku]

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