Official word has come revealing that Harmonix Music Systems, the maker of Rock Band and DropMix, will be teaming up with the Lineage and Blade & Soul creator, NCsoft. Apparently, the two companies have formed a strategic partnership to create and launch a brand new game.
Harmonix and NCSoft have refused to reveal anything about this first project at this point. The only thing they shared was that the game was in very early stages of development, and that we can expect to play it on PC and consoles.
Looking back, Harmonix did have a falling out with peripheral manufacturer, Mad Catz. The company was hit with a devastating $11.6 million loss, which Mad Catz blamed on “incredibly disappointing” demand for Rock Band 4. However, Harmonix refuted that by saying that Rock Band 4 met expectations and did rather well overall.
As for NCsoft, well, the company is going to handle publishing. Harmonix is going to focus on development.
Dr. Songyee Yoon, President of NCsoft, issued the following statement.
This partnership is representative of NCsoft’s ambition to reach beyond the PC and mobile MMORPG space with new and innovative titles. Harmonix’s decades of expertise at the intersection of music licensing and video game development are second to none, and we can’t wait to introduce their upcoming project to the world.
Steve Janiak, Harmonix’s CEO, also issued a statement.
We’re thrilled to team up with NCsoft as a publisher that shares our vision for the evolution of entertainment, and what it takes to build a community on modern gaming platforms. NCsoft’s stellar reputation as a partner, combined with its incredible publishing expertise, means that we can focus fully on developing our next genre-defining music experience. I am fully confident they will help deliver what I genuinely believe will be a one-of-a-kind game.
Meanwhile it must be said that Harmonix is working hard to expand its presence in the digital entertainment space. Their efforts were recently boosted by an investment of $19.7 million (22 billion Korean Won). Not too shabby. We are curious to see what this partnership will bring.
In closing, the makers of Rock Band and creators of Blade & Soul are getting creative together. Are you curious to see what this partnership will bring?
