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Harmonix Bought By Investment Firm – Given Control Over Own Destiny

Matt Wadleigh — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 21:26:39 +0000

Viacom issued a press release today confirming the sale of Harmonix, the Rock Band developer that had been on the ‘shopping’ block since November. While the industry speculated that a number of suitors from EA to Activision might purchase the studio, Harmonix was ulimately sold to Columbus Nova, an investment company located in New York, returning the studio to private control. Viacom announced the deal earlier today and, as of press time, terms of the sale were not announced.

What does the sale mean for fans? Harmonix’s John Drake reassured fans in a forum post that Harmonix “will continue [their] support of previously released titles” and that “the DLC schedule marches on for Rock Band.” The tone of the announcement and the forum post suggests that Harmonix, though now owned officially by an investment firm, will retain full control over the studio’s direction.

Viacom Selling Harmonix After Earnings Dip (Update)

Dave Ernst — Thu, 11 Nov 2010 14:55:53 +0000

Just four years after purchasing Harmonix for $175 million, Viacom has said it wants to sell off the music game studio. Viacom has seen a third-quarter dip in earnings.

Viacom has seen extreme fluctuation in financial gain and loss with Harmonix since its purchase and has finally decided to cut their losses. Viacom expects a $299 million loss from “discontinued operations”.

Rock Band 3 released in October and despite being one of the best games in its genre (via our review) sales were mediocre. Dance Central has just released for Xbox 360′s Kinect and while critics seem to like it, sales figures haven’t been released. I can’t see the sales figures being very high as in order to purchase the game you must also invest in a Kinect first.

Whatever happens in the situation, I hope another large company will see the tremendous talent at Harmonix and scoop them up. The music genre may not be the most popular, but they’ve been the best at what they do for nine years.

Source: MCV

UPDATE:

Harmonix has come out to say the selling of the company will not affect future development of titles, as well as supporting existing games.

This morning’s announcement does not affect the ongoing work at the studio as we continue to support our existing franchises, Rock Band and Dance Central. As stated earlier, Viacom is in discussions with several potential buyers and will continue to fully support the business until a sale is completed.

Regarding potential publishers, it’s premature to discuss specific publishers at this time, though we look forward to working with Viacom to find the best home for our studio. Please keep speculation about that to a minimum in this conversation.

Many of you have asked about DLC. To be clear, our earlier statement that we will continue to support our existing franchises holds true and work at the studio is not affected by this announcement. RB DLC will continue unabated. We’re excited to confirm that The BeeGees are our next DLC pack.

Some of you have been chiming in about our different partners and what this announcement means for [the Fender Squier/Mad Catz Hardware/EA Distribution]. Those partnerships are unaffected by this announcement with regards to existing titles.

Most importantly, the Rock Band and Dance Central will continue to be worked on at Harmonix for the foreseeable future. We’re not leaving them behind.

Employees from Harmonix will be posting in this forum thread when they have the chance to answer some questions.

I spoke with John Drake of Harmonix and it looks like employees with be continued to be supported and paid while Viacom finds another company to buy them.

Viacom’s decision to exit this business reflects our strategy of focusing entirely on what they do best: make great branded entertainment content and deliver it through a variety of platforms. Harmonix has and will continue to create terrific video games. But for us, it is about focus. Viacom is in discussions with several potential buyers and will continue to fully support the business until a sale is completed.

I’m sure this is a very hard and strange time for everyone at Harmonix. My heart goes out to these hardworking folks and I truly hope they will be bought by a great company and will continue making the games that I obsess over.

The Beatles and Rock Band 2 “Come Together”

Demi Adejuyigbe — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 23:46:27 +0000

Wow. The (remaining, R.I.P.), Beatles have just licensed a number of their songs to Rock Band. This would just be the most popular DLC to date. On top of that, it’s revolutionary (especially for Harmonix & EA) because The Beatles never license their songs to anyone. You can’t even buy their music on iTunes, and Apple’s been trying for years.

The following is a quote from the Wall Street Journal which broke the news:

The Beatles have licensed songs to MTV Networks’ Rock Band videogame series, according to several people familiar with the matter, a coup for the Viacom Inc. unit in its battle with rival Activision Inc. for supremacy in the world of rock and roll video games.

How Harmonix & MTV Music managed to swing this (rumor has it that all they needed was love.), I’ll never know, but somewhere, Steve Jobs is sitting in his eggshell white iFortress crying. I’m sure the Guitar Hero: World Tour development team will soon join him, cymbals in tow, for this is also a huge blow to GHWT, whose launch has produced relatively unfavorable results. I, on the other hand, spent the past 30 minutes trying to seep Beatles puns into this post, and failed miserably. Help! Hit the jump for the press release.

Apple Corps Ltd. and MTV to Announce Exclusive Agreement to Develop Unprecedented Global Music Project

WHAT: Apple Corps Ltd. and MTV to announce an exclusive agreement to develop a global music project.

WHO: Jeff Jones, CEO of Apple Corps, Ltd. Judy McGrath, Chairman and CEO of MTV Networks Van Toffler, President of MTV Networks Music/Logo Group

WHEN: Thursday, October 30, 2008 2:00 pm UK Time, 10:00 am ET, 7:00 AM PT

About Apple Corps. Ltd. Apple Corps Ltd. was founded by The Beatles in 1968 to look after the group’s own affairs. The London-based company has administered the catalogue of The Beatles releases of the 1960s that have sold to date more than 600 million records, tapes and CDs. Since the 1990s Apple has piloted new Beatles projects that have become benchmarks for pioneering accomplishment and which have included The Beatles Anthology projects, the 28 million-selling album The Beatles 1 and the The Beatles LOVE show and CD. Further information on The Beatles’ projects can be found at www.thebeatles.com.

About MTV Networks MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), is one of the world’s leading creators of entertainment content, with brands that engage and connect diverse audiences across television, online, mobile, games, virtual worlds and consumer products. The company’s portfolio spans more than 150 television channels and 350 digital media properties worldwide, and includes MTV, VH1, CMT, Logo, Harmonix, Nickelodeon, Nick at Nite, Noggin, The N, AddictingGames, Neopets, COMEDY CENTRAL, Spike TV, TV Land, Atom, Gametrailers and Xfire.

Source: Wall Street Journal (thanks, p0wer-glove!)

UPDATE: It seems that the Wall Street Journal’s report citing “several people familiar with the matter” were not familiar enough. Rather than appearing in Rock Band 2, The Beatles are going to be getting their own game. Read more…

Harmonix Receives Big Bonus for Rock Band’s Success

Wade Larson — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:20:48 +0000

Rock Band has been bringing in money for Harmonix. And it just brought in a lot more. Viacom recently paid Harmonix a reported $208.7 million as a bonus for the company’s success. The bonus was outlined in Viacom’s 2006 buyout of Harmonix for $175 million.

Gameindustry.biz reported:

Viacom’s Form 10-K statement, released last week, indicates that the company offered a financial incentive as part of the acquisition.

“In addition, to the extent financial results exceed specific contractual targets against a defined gross profit metric through 2008, former Harmonix shareholders will be eligible for incremental earn-out payments with respect to the years ended December 31, 2007 and December 31, 2008,” the form read.

What does this mean in layman’s terms? Well, if Harmonix exceeds their projected income, their shareholders get a little extra something.

Viacom was also quoted as calling Rock Band “an unqualified success, setting the foundation for another valuable franchise.” Valuable enough to shell out a $200 million bonus? Apparently so.

Bruckheimer to Produce Videogames for MTV – Part of $500 Million Viacom Push

Michael Geslani — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 04:19:44 +0000

Beverly Hills Cop may be a bit too old for some of our readers to remember; maybe a more recent film like Pirates of the Caribbean would be better suited for our introduction. Well, the individual responsible for producing both of those films, Jerry Bruckheimer, is set to venture out into the world of video gaming.

MTV and Bruckheimer have joined forces setting up a gaming lab at MTV headquarters, as a part of a larger $500 million interactive initiative set into motion by parent company Viacom.

“It’s pretty exciting what’s going on in that arena,” Bruckheimer told the Associated Press.

Bruckheimer has yet to name names in terms of what exactly he will be working on, but he does drop a few hints by stating that the games will be in line with the work he has already produced for TV and Film.

Ironically enough, the loop comes full circle as Bruckheimer is also hard at work producing a Prince of Persia movie based on the popular video game.