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Exceptional performance by Rock Band means former Harmonix owners getting extra cash.
Rock Band as a franchise is a huge success, and the hard work of the folks at Harmonix has led MTV to a major prize in securing the rights to create a music game featuring The Beatles. But thanks to the success of the Rock Band franchise, MTV will be shelling out $150 million to the former shareholders of Harmonix. This is in addition to the $175 million that MTV Networks paid when they acquired the company back in 2006.
A quarterly filing (via Edge Online) by MTV parent company Viacom stated:
The Company expects to have a final payment with respect to Harmonix 2008 performance due in 2009. The payment amount is based on financial results in excess of specific contractual targets against a defined gross profit metric. In light of the success of the Rock Band videogame series, the final payment is expected to exceed this year's payment.
In other words, thanks to Harmonix managing to achieve an unspecified amount of success with Rock Band -- which Viacom claims has shipped 7 million units as a franchise in 13 countries -- MTV is going to have to dish out even more money than it was probably hoping.
Still, owning what is arguably the de facto developer of music games seems like a good deal if you ask us.
