Media conglomerate Viacom announced today it is in talks with several potential suitors for Harmonix, the Boston-based videogame studio behind Rock Band and Dance Central. The surprise announcement came as part of Viacom's third quarter earnings report -- a report that revealed the business unit that is Harmonix's home lost $65 million.
Viacom-owned MTV Networks acquired Boston-based Harmonix in 2006 and co-produced the original Rock Band, which was published in 2007. The game was a critical darling and went on to make more than $600 million worldwide. However, as the music and rhythm-game genre began its abrupt decline, the franchise quickly lost steam at retail. The Beatles Rock Band underperformed, Green Day Rock Band was a non-starter, and recently released Rock Band 3 has thus far mustered just 250,000 copies sold worldwide.
"Harmonix has and will continue to create terrific video games," Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman said in a statement. "But for us, it is about focus. The console games business requires an expertise and scale that we don't have."
Viacom said it currently has "several" interested buyers, and for its part, Harmonix says it's business as usual. "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," the developer stated on its community forum.
The usual suspects, Activision and Electronic arts, are rumored to be the main suitors for Harmonix, the company that also created the Guitar Hero franchise.
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