MTV Games is not the last gaming effort we’ll see from MTV Networks. MTV Networks has a new division called 345 Games which will leverage its existing brands. 345 Games is going to work with independent developers on games that will be based on shows that air on Spike TV and Comedy Central. Along with an existing fan base and an already established marketing department, 345 Games has a decent chance at making financially successful products.

MTV Games, best known as the publisher of the Rock Band franchise is no more. MCV reports the company closed its doors to its international office yesterday (February 2, 2011). According to the report, there are only a few employees remaining (mostly on the financial side) in New York. The closure of MTV Games is a testament to how far sales of music rhythm games have declined over the past few years.

Thought Harmonix was a studio with a multi-million dollar asking price? Think again. When Harmonix was sold by Viacom to Columbus Nova, it was purchased for the mind-boggling sum of $49.99. That’s not a typo. The whole of Harmonix was worth less than a brand new game. Now before you begin thinking you could have bought a videogame development studio with the money in your Christmas sock, you should know there was a catch to Harmonix’s super low price.

Back in November, Viacom announced its intentions to sell Rock Band developer Harmonix. The music rhythm genre isn’t what it used to be, and sales have been dwindling for a while now. Viacom wanted to sell Harmonix because it felt the videogame industry was not playing to its strengths as a company. After a little over a month of searching, Harmonix has been sold.

Viacom, the parent company of Rock Band developer Harmonix, released its third quarter financial results today (November 11, 2010). In it, Viacom reported $3.33 billion in revenue, but Harmonix continued to fall behind. Even though Harmonix develops the most popular music rhythm genre of this generation, it isn’t enough to keep Viacom from seeing the developer as a financial liability.

Viacom’s CEO Philippe Dauman just announced Rock Band 3 will be available during the 2010 holiday season. This time around Viacom says Rock Band 3 will revolutionize the music genre.

Bloomberg is reporting that Viacom will be paying Harmonix co-founders Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy a total of $300 million in bonuses for the runaway success of Rock Band.

The huge payday for the two men is part of the conditions of Viacom’s purchase of Harmonix, which occurred back in 2006. Rigopulos and Egoz have already received $150 million from Viacom during the third quarter of 2008. They will earn at least an additional $150 million in 2009 as a reward for Rock Band‘s popularity far exceeding…

Midway is plunging into a deep financial abyss, with its annual balance sheets being painted in red for the past eight years, last reporting an annual profit in 1999. The company is hoping to use a bit less red in 2008 by focusing more on big name and movie-based games. The man who owns 90% more »

Digital content distribution is the order of Games 3.0, the current era of gaming, and Microsoft was one of the earliest adopters of this model with its Xbox Live service. Microsoft is ensuring that there is no dearth of content on Live, be it games or any other media. It has signed a major $500 more »