Viacom’s luke-warm analysis of its Rock band franchise earlier this week added fuel to the fire of those questioning the long-term viability of the music game franchise – making the news that sales of Guitar Hero are radically up year-on-year all the more impressive.

“Year to date through September 30, the Guitar Hero franchise was the number one best-selling third-party franchise in North America and Europe,” Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick stated.

“For the month of September, sales of music games in the US increased 72 per cent in dollars year over year, which demonstrates the sustained interest in this new and important game category.”