DJ Hero devs form new studio

By Fred Dutton Published 15 July, 2011

Debut game hits App Store next week.

A number of Freestyle Games staff have jumped ship from the Activision-owned DJ Hero studio and set up on their own.

According to The Guardian, the new outfit is called Music in Colour and is headed up by former Freestyle boss Chris Lee.

The studio will focus on music games for mobile platforms. Its first effort, an iOS title called Say What!?, arrives on the App Store from 20th July.

A joint venture with production company Reactify and recording studio Metropolis, it sees you tapping objects to match up with the lyrics of a song. See the trailer below for a better idea of how it works.

The group has secured a licensing deal with Sony Music, with four tracks included in the free app at launch. Additional tunes will then be available for purchase at £1.19 each.

Confirmed artists so far include Calvin Harris, Scouting for Girls, The Zutons and The Nolans.

Lee views the project as a way to help fill the revenue void left by the demise of the Hero brand, offering record labels a new way to monetise their acts.

"The music business needs to capture a new audience," explained Lee.

"Rather than make a game then license the music, this is much more of a partnership. We think there is a great opportunity to leverage the mobile platform to build something that reaches a wider audience, and monetises music."

Despite the DJ Hero franchise being binned by Activision earlier this year, Freestyle Games is still in business. In May it told Eurogamer it's working on a "very, very exciting" new project.

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About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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