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DAILY MANIFESTO

Rock Band Developers Sold for $49.99, $44.99 Used.

Posted on Tuesday, January 4 @ 15:06:22 Eastern by Daniel Bischoff

If I had known I could buy Harmonix for this cheap and forced them to make a sequel to Amplitude, I would have. Of course, I am not a private investment firm like Columbus Nova.

To Columbus Nova, buying Harmonix was like heading to your local Gamestop and picking up a copy of Dance Central, like laying down 50 bucks and walking out the door. Of course, Columbus Nova wasn't asked about preorders or strategy guides or warranty plans.

Really... Columbus Nova only paid $49.99 for the developer. Of course, that seemingly cheap price tag comes with a hefty amount of debt and licensing fees. Consider how much all those songs on the Rock Band store cost to host when people like the collective a-holes in Metallica are sending a bill every month.

Viacom was sure to make their money back though, as sources report that the deal was structured to benefit the media giant. Viacom apparently stands to gain $150 million in tax breaks from the deal.

As much as Harmonix gained from the relationships Viacom's MTV held with the music industry, I don't think the Rock Band developer had anything left to gain from their previous owner. They should be able continue putting out quality products that still put Guitar Hero and Activision to shame.

[Source]

Comments

Rinnon
Joined: Nov 2005

Posted: Jan 4th, 2011 at 3:39 pm
As a major fan of Rock Band, and Harmonix in general, maybe there is something you'd be able to explain to me, because I don't understand. Harmonix seems like it would be a profitable company, but everything I read implies that Harmonix actually COST Viacom money (otherwise, why would they sell them?) and if this is the case, why would Colombus Nova be interested in purchasing them, if all they were purchasing was a money sink? I don't imagine any Company would purchase a studio that would do nothing but cost money, so they must have something in mind for Harmnoix to be profitable, or they wouldn't have bought it... right? If that's the case, how will this change the way Harmonix does business? Or am I completely way off base.

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Odbarc
Joined: Apr 2007

Posted: Jan 4th, 2011 at 3:57 pm
$44.99 used? I'll wait until it's in the $2 bin and I also find $2 on the floor next to it... then I can buy a donut or coffee at Tom Hortons.

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danielrbischoff
Joined: Nov 2009

Posted: Jan 4th, 2011 at 4:43 pm
@Rinnon: I think Viacom thought the MTV Games label was going to really take off. Of course, they probably also assumed the near rocket speed ascent Harmonix was on when they bought them would continue. Unfortunately, the music genre has really settled in for video games. When Beatles Rock Band didn't turn out as profitable as they thought it would, they figured they'd have to do more than just throw money at music acts looking to see their likenesses in digital form.

Viacom likes production to be cheap and profit to be hi. Look at the garbage on their networks.

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Rinnon
Joined: Nov 2005

Posted: Jan 5th, 2011 at 2:51 pm
Ah, that makes sense then. So they were trying to jump into the entire industry with Harmonix, and then decided that it just wasn't as lucrative as they thought it would be, and said screw it.

That makes more sense.

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