Kotick: Guitar Hero can rival iTunes

No-one would argue that Guitar Hero’s achievements to date have been significant, but Bobby Kotick, the chief executive of Activision Blizzard, has said that the franchise can achieve even greater things by challenging Apple’s iTunes music download service.

Speaking to The Financial Times, Kotick talked of plans for a Guitar Hero centric online music platform, which he described as a natural evolution of the franchise.

"I don’t think there have been a lot of credible alternatives to iTunes but Guitar Hero certainly has that potential,” he claimed.

In recent weeks, bands such as Def Leppard and Coldplay have both used the Guitar Hero download service to debut music before it was made available to the general public via mainstream music download sites or on the High Street.