Dan Rosensweig, CEO of Activision Blizzard"s Guitar Hero franchise, is to leave the company after taking the position less than a year ago. According to the Guardian, Rosensweig is moving to Internet startup Chegg, which offers students the chance to rent textbooks rather than buy them.
Activision Blizzard"s president and CEO, Mike Griffith, said in a brief statement, "We would like to thank Dan for his contributions to the Guitar Hero business. We widened our leadership in the music gaming genre in 2009."
Rosensweig will be replaced by David Haddad, a veteran of the gaming industry who was Chief Operating Officer at the Guitar Hero unit.
Co-founder and chairman of Chegg, Osman Rashid, said he was "thrilled" Rosensweig was joining them as their president and CEO.
The Guardian goes on to report that while the reasons behind Rosensweig"s departure are not clear, the move may be a sign that Activision is struggling with falling demand for new Guitar Hero games. High expectations and increased competition from Rock Band have caused the title"s popularity to drop.
A sales analysis last year stated that revenues from the franchise were down by 30% compared to the year before.