Viacom will pay huge bonus to Harmonix’s Rock Band creators

With the September release of Rock Band 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2), Harmonix now sits at 5th in US video game sales. As if that’s not good enough news for the company, Viacom will pay Rock Band creators video-game bonuses exceeding US$ 300 million. Details and big sums in the full article.

With the September release of Rock Band 2 (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2), Harmonix now sits at 5th in US video game sales. As if that’s not good enough news for the company, Viacom, as part of its acquisition of the company in 2006, will pay Rock Band creators video-game bonuses exceeding US$ 300 million.

The lucky (and now even filthy richer) Harmonix founders got US$ 150 million in the last quarter alone for exceeding performance targets. “We may not have anticipated the payment would be that high, but it’s based on what they have achieved,” Viacom spokeswoman Kelly McAndrew said. “If they are making more money for us and we have to give a little back, that’s okay.”

Right now, Rock Band (Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, PS2) sells for US$ 60 on Amazon, US$ 190 if you include instruments. Viacom chief exec Philippe Dauman  notes that the game sold 7 million copies in 13 countries, and 26 million music downloads. The NPD reports that the game produced retail sales of US$ 142.6 million in the third quarter..

Now that’s how you bring the bacon home. Clearly, Harmonix bigwigs will have a lot of reasons to rock out this Christmas.

• Second Rock Band track pack list disc coming November 17
• Foo Fighers DLC available for Rock Band on November 11

Buy: [Rock Band (PS3), (Wii), (Xbox 360)]
Buy: [Rock Band 2 (PS3), (Wii), (Xbox 360)]

Via Bloomberg