Harmonix Music Systems is the studio behind the Rock Band franchise and other music games. Its core product pipeline includes the upcoming Rock Band 4 (released Oct 6 for Xbox One and PlayStation 4), Beat Sports for Apple TV, an Oculus Rift title, and a PlayStation VR music visualizer. The studio plans to focus heavily on VR and emerging platforms while continuing to sell song DLC and provide free and paid post‑launch updates. Harmonix used Kickstarter to validate demand for Amplitude and will invest more than the crowdfunding raised in developing that title. The company says it feels like a startup, operating with about 120 employees, down from nearly 300 during its time under Viacom’s MTV. Management says the new funding will let it pursue innovation without immediate commercial pressure. Harmonix Music Systems is a Massachusetts-based video game company known for rhythm-action music games. The studio ran a Kickstarter campaign to revive Amplitude, a 2003 cult classic that the article says defined the PlayStation 2 era and is being revisited for modern platforms. The Kickstarter exceeded its $775,000 goal and closed with $844,127 pledged from over 14,000 backers. The campaign attracted contributions from fellow developers Insomniac Games and the Skullgirls teams and was described by the studio as driven by fan and industry support. Harmonix said it turned to Kickstarter after publishers declined to fund the project, noting some ideas are too ambitious to self-fund. Founded in 1995, Harmonix is responsible for titles including Dance Central, Rock Band, Guitar Hero, and the upcoming "Fantansia: Music Evolved."

Total raised

$15M

Funding rounds

2

Latest round

Equity

Latest activity

Oct 2015