Rock Band Execs to Get $300 Million Bonus
Based on the explosive sales of the popular video game Rock Band, Viacom (VIA) has agreed to pay the game developers an astounding $300 million in bonuses. The payment would be made as part of Viacom’s 2006 acquisition of Harmonix – the company behind the game. Finally, a corporate bonus we can all get behind.
Rock Band expands on Guitar Hero’s original model of players rocking out on guitar controllers in sync to popular music. This version allows up to 4 simultaneous players — or bandmates — to play lead and bass guitars, drums, and vocals. The simple yet addictive gameplay is responsible for 7 million sales in 13 countries, 26 million song downloads and countless domestic disturbance calls from neighbors. It’s also one of very few titles to span the PS2, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii platforms. For exceeding performance targets last quarter, Harmonix founders Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy received $150 million – and now stand to gain an additional $150 million in 2009.