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EA Not Interested In Harmonix

by Matthew Kato on Nov 30, 2010 at 03:40 AM

Electronic Arts used to have a distribution deal for the Rock Band series with publisher MTV Games and series' developer Harmonix, but Electronic Arts CEO John Riccitiello says that the company is not interested in purchasing the studio.

Harmonix was recently put up for sale by parent company Viacom, but in an interview with Bloomberg, Riccitiello said that – although EA is looking into unspecified acquisitions that make sense for the company – Harmonix was not one of them.

"I'm sure some smart investor will buy the business feeling that they can catch a falling knife, but more people have been cut trying to catch falling knives than have benefited from getting the timing exactly right," said Riccitiello. "Moves that look like I'm doubling down on yesterday would make it harder still to convince investors that tomorrow is the promised land."

While some gamers may be happy to hear that EA isn't interested in Harmonix, Riccitiello has vocalized the uncertain feeling some currently have about the viability of the music genre going forward. If EA thinks it's too risky of a proposition, how will other potential buyers see it?