Add Maroon 5 vocalist Adam 
Levine to the list of musicians who are angry with Activision.
The singer and co-star of NBC’s hit series “The Voice” has sued the publisher over the use of his likeness in 2009’s Band Hero, saying he did not authorize many of the ways his image is used in the game. Sound familiar? It should. Levine’s complaints are virtual carbon copies of the ones made by No Doubt and the former members of Nirvana.
While the Halo series might be one of the biggest 
names in the gaming universe, the Master Chief falls a bit short when it comes to his peers. Microsoft’s biggest franchise is nowhere to be found in the ranking of the industry’s best selling games, as ranked by life-to-date sales.
The list, calculated by the NPD Group, uses data that reaches back to 1995 is not inflation adjusted. (It looks at gross sales.) But it still shines some light on the biggest individual titles the industry. CNBC.com looks at the 10 biggest.
Activision-Blizzard has come 
a long way in the past few years.
It wasn’t that long ago that the company was an also-ran in video game industry, making some strong franchises, but never really dominating the sales charts. These days, though, the company is responsible for five of the 10 highest grossing games of all time.
While Wednesday’s announcement that 
Activision-Blizzard was pulling the plug on “Guitar Hero” might have turned heads in the gaming world, it was the company’s other announcement that might have bigger repercussions for investors.
As it cancelled games and the long-standing franchise, the publisher also announced plans to double down in the digital space and increase its focus on the lucrative “Call of Duty” franchise, two steps analysts say could significantly raise the company’s margins.
[Gamasutra editor-at-large Chris Morris analyzes the sudden 
dissolution of the Guitar Hero music franchise at Activision, with input from multiple financial sector analysts, who discuss how the company has “pretty much driven the franchise into the ground”.]
Players might still be reeling from the news that Activision is pulling the plug on Guitar Hero, but Wall Street is giving the fat lady a standing ovation.
It’s no secret that the franchise has been in considerable decline for the past couple of years. And while it seems like it was only yesterday that the games were pulling in $1 billion, analysts say the publisher made a hard choice that will likely serve it well over the long term.
At Activision-Blizzard, Feb. 9 will
be known as the day the music died.
The videogame publisher announced plans Wednesday to discontinue development of future “Guitar Hero” games, essentially putting what was once one of its top-earning franchises on ice.
The fat lady has sung in Activision’s 
“Guitar Hero” franchise.
The publisher today announced that it was discontinuing development on future games in the series – as well as related titles such as “DJ Hero” and “Band Hero”. Also cancelled was “True Crime: Hong Kong”.
Chris Morris: Journalist 