10 Largest Grossing Video Games That Are Just Soulless Cash-Cows

3. Guitar Hero (Red Octane/Harmonix/Neversoft/Activision)

Guitar Hero was an excellent game - it caught everybody off guard, and had people swarming after it. It traded hands a few times, ending with four different developers having worked on the game at some point, and two different publishers. But when Activision took over in 2006 they got greedy (as usual) and began releasing more spin-offs and annual sequels than people could keep up with. Let's see: Guitar Hero released in 2005. Guitar Hero 2 released in 2006. Guitar Hero 3 released in 2007. Guitar Hero: World Tour released in 2008. Guitar Hero 5 released in 2009. Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock released in 2010. Oh, you thought we were done? Like those six would be it, huh? Wrong. Those are just the "main" title releases, there are plenty of expansions. Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks The 80s released in 2007 Guitar Hero: Aerosmith released in 2007 Guitar Hero: Metallica released in 2009 Guitar Hero: Smash Hits released in 2009 Guitar Hero: Van Halen released in 2009 Those aren't even including the mobile phone versions. But you can see how fast it died, and how Activision was relentless in getting their money as fast as they could before killing the series.