Guitar Hero to add new instruments in 2008 — analyst

More instruments are likely to be added to Activision's Guitar Hero franchise in 2008, as the company grows the brand to tackle competition from EA's impending Rock Band release.

That's according to industry analyst Janco, which also points out that Activision could reap better rewards due to owning the Guitar Hero franchise outright — as opposed to EA's distribution deal with Harmonix and MTV for Rock Band.

"We expect Guitar Hero to follow a natural product evolution by adding additional music peripherals in calender year 08," said the firm, reports Gamasutra.

"Importantly, the Guitar Hero franchise that is developed internally and owned, offers a meaningful operating margin expansion potential versus Rock Band, which is purely a distribution deal for [Electronic Arts]."

Activision has recently expanded the Guitar Hero brand by taking it to the Xbox 360, as well as releasing spin-off titles such as Guitar Hero: Rocks the 80's.

A third game is currently in development and due to be shown publicly in Europe for the first time at the Edinburgh International Festival later this month.