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Harmonix Details $15 Million Equity Investment Revealed In September
With Rock Band 4 just days away from launch, Harmonix is already looking toward the future. The company detailed the $15 million in equity funding revealed in September today and another new project.
The funding comes in the form of equity investment, which means that those putting up the capital have an ownership claim in Harmonix. The group is led by venture capital firms Foundry Group, which has previously invested in Zynga, Fitbit, Makerbot, and Ello, and Spark Capital, which has stakes in Coin, Oculus, Tumblr, and Upworthy.
Harmonix also says that it is developing an unannounced game for the Oculus Rift. The company already has a VR project in development for Gear VR and PlayStation VR called Harmonix Music VR. The company will also be returning to crowdfunding this fall, before the wide release of its first Kickstarted game, Amplitude.
Rock Band 4 is out on October 6 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4.
Our Take
Harmonix has had its ups and downs since the launch of Rock Band 3 in 2010. Dance Central bridged the gap, but didn’t have nearly as strong a DLC profile as the Rock Band franchise.
Rock Band 4 is important because of its long-term potential for returning to the profitable DLC model that fueled the company for years. The VR endeavors are a gamble that the company will be able to take as long as revenues flow long-term from Rock Band fans.
Note: The Our Take original stated that Rock Band 3 launched in 2007, which is when the first title in the franchise was released. This has been corrected, and we regret the error.
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