Harmonix
The music game developer behind Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and Dance Central.
Harmonix Music Systems, Inc., doing business as Harmonix, is an American video game developer company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was established in May 1995 by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy. Harmonix is perhaps best known as being the developer of music video games series Dance Central and Rock Band, as well as being the original developer and creator of the Guitar Hero series before development moved to Neversoft and Vicarious Visions.
Quick Facts
- Founded
- 2000
- Headquarters
- Boston, Massachusetts
- Signature franchise
- Rock Band
- Notable titles
- Frequency
- Amplitude
- Rock Band 1–4
- Dance Central
- Acquired by
- Vicon (2012); Vicon later acquired by Take-Two Interactive (2013)
- Genre focus
- Rhythm
- music
- dance
Lore & Background
Harmonix was founded on May 10, 1995, by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, who met while attending MIT. The company's earliest product was The Axe on PC CD-ROM, which sold about 300 copies. Harmonix then designed 'CamJam', which was utilized at Disney theme parks. After attempting to sell CamJam to Japanese entertainment centers with little interest, the company regrouped as a video game developer.
Harmonix' first major video game was Frequency, released in 2001 on the PlayStation 2, followed by Amplitude in 2003. Harmonix also developed the Karaoke Revolution franchise for Konami between 2003 and 2004, and released EyeToy: AntiGrav in 2004. In 2005, Harmonix created Guitar Hero with RedOctane. In September 2006, MTV Networks, a division of Viacom, announced it was acquiring Harmonix for $175 million.
Harmonix released Rock Band in November 2007. In October 2008, Harmonix and MTV Games announced an exclusive agreement with Apple Corps, Ltd. to produce The Beatles: Rock Band, released late in 2009. In November 2008, Viacom paid Harmonix a $150 million bonus. On 10 December 2009, Harmonix laid off 39 employees.
Did You Know?
- The company's first product was The Axe, a PC CD-ROM that let users perform solos with a joystick.
- Rock Band was released in November 2007 as Harmonix's first game under MTV/Viacom.
- The Beatles: Rock Band was developed in partnership with Apple Corps, Ltd. and included 45 songs.
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