Rock Band, Dance Central DLC 'ongoing work' not affected by Viacom sale

by Alexander Sliwinski on Nov 11th 2010 11:45AM

After seeing this morning's news of Viacom selling developer Harmonix, many of you were concerned about the company's persistent work in supporting its products with downloadable content.

Harmonix has responded to our inquiry, stating, "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." The developer plans to continue answering outstanding questions on its forum on this thread.

We also contacted Viacom and MTV Games regarding the status of the licenses for the music store and whether they'll transfer with Harmonix once the company is sold. A Viacom spokesperson informed Joystiq, "All we can say at this point is that Rock Band and Dance Central DLC will continue as planned and we will continue to fully support their releases."

Update: Added Viacom quote.

Tags: dance-central, Harmonix, microsoft, MTV-Games, nintendo, playstation, ps3, Rock-Band-3, Viacom, wii, xbox

Reader Comments (28)

So, what they are saying is that they will continue to work on DLC while Harmonix is put up on the auction block, but once it's actually sold it could end. If they find a buyer quickly that may only be a month or two.

@Craquehead No they didn't say that. But in the wonders of business speak they also didn't not say that. What they told us was a blessed execution of say a lot of nothing.

What they are saying is they continue to support their products. Depending on terms of sale they MAY support the products after the say, or hell the brand and licenses may even move with them but we simply do not know. The unfortunate thing about this entire deal is Rock Band 3 really transcended beyond a simple "game" in to a learning tool. Something that, in my opinion, is really awesome. Combine that with the RB Network you've got a really interesting and great place for growth. With the elimination of Hardware costs by outsourcing it to third parties it could have proven to be very lucrative.

Ah well, frankly I am just going to hold out hope. Bad move on Viacom's part is all.

@commonperson Pro drums aren't even remotely accurate in most instances. I have no idea how the pro guitar works, and neither do most people since they couldn't get the controllers out for launch.

So RB3 is a big could-have-been in my book, and I don't picture myself playing it far into the future. Viacom knows what's up, and they probably didn't like the Rock Band 3 and Dance Central sales numbers. Seems like a smart move.

As long as ACTI doesn't buy them and the (upcoming) DLC remain open to all existing platforms it's OK.

I do not get this.

@Petebot330
DLC will continue untill they're sold.

@The Aquacharger I get THAT. I don't get why they're being sold in the first place. I'm sure we'll get some more information, but at the moment it just seems odd to me. The only other franchise I can think of more universally beloved is Mario.

@Petebot330 Companies buy and sell divisions for one reason - money. MTV probably thought Beatles and Green Day would sell a lot better than they did, and that RB3 would have been a best seller going into the holidays. I think a lot of people held off on RB3 because of Move and/or Kinect, and the fact that even if you had bought the other games, if you wanted to play all the instruments, you had to pop down the cash for the keyboard as well. I was going to hold off myself, and only bought it due to Best Buy giving a better deal on their game/keyboard combo and a large number of Best Buy gift cards. I got Dance Central as well, but since that is a new IP, MTV didn't want to take the chance with new IP AND a new control scheme. Dance Central is reviewing well, so it may mean MTV breaks even or makes a small profit.

ive spent well over $200 on DLC, if this means that licenses are no longer valid for future Rock Band titles / Harmonix games....this is devastating

@Tradio I wouldn't say the would end the licenses for already purchased DLC, but it's possible some DLC could be pulled and no longer be available. Just like several XBLA games are no longer available or DLC packs are gone, but you can still download them if you've already purchased them.

From what I hear, Viacom are assholes. So good job Harmonix!

@Smugleaf Assholes who own 90-95% of the entertainment industry... not good for the Harmonix music licensing department.

so wait...what if activision buys harmonix?

@AudioAce it will be the end of the world as we know it. And rockband will become like guitar hero (a load of Sh!t)

watch Activision throw millions at Viacom and end up buying Harmonix and then SQUASHING it....you heard it here first....sad day

Wow. So I'm guessing that Rock Band 3 didn't sell as many units as expected? (which is a shame because the game is fantastic)

@Crayola Q Pants ESQ Some how I doubt this was a question of how well RB3 did. The game has barely even been advertised. It might be more a issue of Viacom wanting to crank out as many titles as Guitar Hero without regard for quality and HMX not agreeing and being sold.

Selling to either Sony or MS isn't likely I think both companies would end up encountering trouble when HMX tries licensing music.

@Crayola Q Pants ESQ Bingo

Probably not. Delayed pro controllers, competition with Guitar Hero, relatively out-of-touch setlist (I love it but most kids won't), terrible new online quickplay format... and of course all the people who have no interest in learning how to play guitar.

And as a drummer I am completely and totally disappointed in "Pro Drums" which still features the completely inaccurate 4-pad charts mapped to additional pads.

So does that mean future /game/ releases are up in the air entirely? I actually bought my Kinect expecting we'll see some more Dance Central releases beyond mere DLC (because it's an AMAZING game).

I don't want to hand gasoline out to the fanboys but taking Dance Central away from the Kinect really diminishes its appeal to me. I nearly bought the damned thing for that series alone.

@RickGhastly To clarify: To me, it looks ambiguous to whether they're "supporting current franchises" with DLC or continuing the development of /sequels/ in those franchises.

If RB3 is the last one, then they went out on a great note. However, they haven't even begun to tap the potential of DC. Hell, I don't even have the Humpty Dance yet.

@RickGhastly Development on sequels will probably depend on the company that purchases them and what they decide to do.

If I was Sony, I'd pick them up and have them develop the next gen Singstar. And develop Dance Central for Move exclusively (screw MS!).

If I was MS, I'd pick them up and develop the next gen Lips with full band peripherals. screw Sony!

Nintendo would never buy an American company...

@onlysublime
Nintendo bought Retro Studios. They're from Texas.

Ultimately the question is do any of the contracts signed have anything to do with Viacom more than they do HMX. If HMX are the controllers of those contracts they'll move with them to who ever buys them.

From the HMX Site:
"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."

I read that as the IPs go with them.

Out of all of the Potential buyers MS makes the most sense. Dance Central was one of the bigger kinect titles out of the gate. HMX probably needed to work very close to MS to get Dance Central to work with Kinect. It's hard to imagine a relationship not having already formed from that development effort.

MS has the money and there really is no good reason why the wouldn't want HMX.

@vesuvias
As a PS3 user I think that would be the most dissapointing thing they (HMX) could do, I don't think Microsoft would let them have support for both platforms or even let them stay with the IP forever...

@KaCeX
Yeah, that's what I'm most worried about. It would be horrible for PS3 (and Wii) owners like us if Microsoft bought them.

Rock Band 3

Rock Band, Dance Central DLC 'ongoing work' not affected by Viacom sale

Reader Comments (28)

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 12:01PM Craquehead said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 12:26PM commonperson said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 6:43PM jsx92 said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 12:06PM def PD said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 12:06PM Petebot330 said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 12:25PM The Aquacharger said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 12:31PM Petebot330 said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 12:38PM Deezul AwT said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 12:37PM Tradio said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 12:39PM Deezul AwT said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 1:01PM Smugleaf said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 6:44PM jsx92 said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 1:20PM AudioAce said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 7:44PM FdUmCh said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 1:21PM Tradio said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 2:19PM Crayola Q Pants ESQ said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 3:25PM PN04 said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 3:31PM Jack Kevorkian said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 6:48PM jsx92 said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 2:38PM RickGhastly said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 2:59PM RickGhastly said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 3:46PM Mcmax3000 said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 3:01PM onlysublime said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 6:56PM HippoLauncher said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 3:21PM PN04 said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 3:52PM vesuvias said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 6:07PM KaCeX said

Posted: Nov 11th 2010 6:45PM bongoes said

Rock Band 3 Info

Description

MSRP

Release Date

Genre

Developer

Publisher

Rating

Breaking News

WB conjures up Harry Potter for Kinect this fall

Featured Stories

Silver Lining: I Am Alive's unfeeling world

Game Of Thrones and the paradoxes of adaptation

Super Joystiq Podcast 004: 38 Studios meltdown, Gravity Rush, Civilization 5: Gods & Kings, Dragon's Dogma

Engadget

TUAW

Massively

WoW