Epic Games acquires Rock Band creator Harmonix

Epic Games has acquired Harmonix, the developer behind games such as Rockband and FUSER.

Harmonix will be working on creating “musical journeys” and gameplay for Fortnite, though it will also continue to support its existing games, such as Rock Band 4.

The developer confirmed that its current plans for Rock Band DLC and future FUSER events remain unchanged, and added that their games will continue to be available on Steam and consoles.

“Harmonix has always aspired to create the world’s most beloved interactive music experiences, and by joining Epic we will be able to do this at scale,” said Alex Rigopulos, Co-Founder and Chairman at Harmonix. “Together we will push the creative boundaries of what’s possible and invent new ways for our players to make, perform and share music.”

“Music is already bringing millions of people together in Fortnite, from our emotes to global concerts and events,” said Alain Tascan, Vice President of Game Development at Epic Games. “Together with the Harmonix team we will transform how players experience music, going from passive listeners to active participants.”

Harmonix is just the latest in a whole host of acquisitions by Epic this year – having picked up the likes of Tonic Games Group, Capturing Reality, ArtStation and Sketchfab.

About Chris Wallace

Chris is a freelancer writer and was MCV/DEVELOP's staff writer from November 2019 until May 2022. He joined the team after graduating from Cardiff University with a Master's degree in Magazine Journalism. He can be found on Twitter at @wallacec42, where he mostly explores his obsession with the Life is Strange series, for which he refuses to apologise.

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