Response to Questions about Viacom Selling Harmonix

[LirodonRicaro]

Activision: You might be able to bring them back to glory. Emphasis on "might"

EA: They're pretty massive, and they've been your distributor. Wouldn't you like them as overlords?

Konami: You could teach them a few things about making good American products. Oh, and you could rework Beatmania for the U.S. as an Amplitude revival. Konami has also been getting better at music licencing in Japan recently, I'd dig some J-rock DLC, and your plan to make a Japanese version of RB could work under them too.

Disney: "Jonas Brothers: Rock Band"

[Quaszar]

This is NOT how to sell/advertise your product going into the holiday season....

[PCTraitor]

Well it's not good news and there is always a chance that this is the end.

So I ask this of Harmonix. Treat it as the end even if it isn't and make it the best end possible. Get tons of the best DLC out as soon as possible and fix the bugs. Get us back our missing DLC songs too. Because this is your legacy. It could end today (or in a few months) and 20 years from now people may still be playing this game. So make it end proudly it could very well be Pac Man, Super Mario Brothers, Zelda and Rock Band in the pantheon of great video games one day.

[Shredded]

This is NOT how to sell/advertise your product going into the holiday season....

The average shopper in Wal-Mart wouldn't know or even care about this. Really.

[babywolfman]

No question on whether Activision would be interested.

[Apples]

I would be very surprised if Activision didn't re-aquire Harmonix. Look at it this way, at least there would no longer be any exclusivity.

Personally I think Microsoft is a frontrunner since Dance Central is a flagship IP for their Kinect doodads. They also have the cash and the history of acquisitions.

Of course money talks better than anything and there are a good half dozen firms with the expertise and resources to make a move.

[Shredded]

Well it's not good news and there is always a chance that this is the end.

So I ask this of Harmonix. Treat it as the end even if it isn't and make it the best end possible. Get tons of the best DLC out as soon as possible and fix the bugs. Get us back our missing DLC songs too. Because this is your legacy. It could end today (or in a few months) and 20 years from now people may still be playing this game. So make it end proudly it could very well be Pac Man, Super Mario Brothers, Zelda and Rock Band in the pantheon of great video games one day.

That reads like a eulogy. They've not shut the doors. That's a little premature.

[Ultrace]

What is scary about a merger of the brands? I firmly believe that Activision would allow Harmonix to take the reigns on the music game genre.

What would be scary about a merger/purchase by Activision would be the management and decision style of senior executives there. It's clear from the past few years and from direct statements that Activision is interested in utilizing many sequels ("exploiting" a series) and that's in conflict with what we see in RB. RB3 was allowed to develop for two years and people still have issues with it. Imagine if they were forced to put out a major Rock Band game every year. Also, we still don't know the root causes behind so many songs that don't pass from game to game in the GH series; if it's due to cost-saving measures or whatever, a purchase by Activision could mandate a serious drop in quality or support for the series that people have come to expect... Which ultimately tarnishes the brand and Harmonix as the developer.

This is obviously leaning more toward the "worst case scenario" of an Activision purchase, but as someone who has played their games since River Raid and Kaboom!, I've watched them devolve into a very financially successful company that no longer provides gamers the experiences they used to, and I would hate to see that same fate befall Harmonix.

[BandRock]

What is scary about a merger of the brands? I firmly believe that Activision would allow Harmonix to take the reigns on the music game genre. They have to realize that what Harmonix has set up is far more powerful going foward than what they have currently with their brand.

If Activision does purchase Harmonix you'll see Rock Band as the dominate and only music game on the market, strengththgngenening it for every single person invested into the genre.

There are a 1000 different scenarios that could make this a disaster. It's atrocious what Activision has done not only the Guitar Hero franchise, but to this new genre as a whole.

[Soupiertiger]

Remember when everyone was terrified when Activision bought Blizzard? Everyone was terrified that something bad would happen.

Nothing bad happened. I think that if Activision were to acquire Harmonix, they would release that Rock Band is more the profitable IP and continue to push forward going on.

However, it is Activision, so anything is possible.