Rock Band developer on the market from MTV Games' parent company.
In a financial earnings statement released today, Viacom announced that they are in the process of selling Harmonix.
Viacom are auctioning the company, which is a money-losing business unit and has dragged down Viacom's earnings for several past quarters. They are now talking with several potential buyers. The sale will mark Viacom's withdrawal from the console game market. CEO Philippe Dauman said, "Harmonix has and will continue to create terrific video games, but for us, it is about focus. The console games business requires an expertise and scale that we don't have."
Harmonix noted in the Rock Band forums that the sale will not affect ongoing work as Viacom will continue to fully support the business until the sale is completed. Downloadable content for current titles, Rock Band 3 and Dance Central, is also unaffected. Partnerships with other companies such as EA Distribution are unaffected on existing games.