Harmonix put up for sale by Viacom

Just four years after it bought the studio for $175m, Viacom wants to sell off music game studio Harmonix.

Viacom, the corporate parent that owns the likes of MTV and Paramount, said today in an earnings statement that it had seen a third-quarter dip in earnings.

This has seemingly forced it to ditch the outfit, and expects a $299 million loss from ‘discontinued operations’.

Harmonix created the Guitar Hero franchise in 2005, but was bought by Viacom just a year later and integrated into the MTV Games business after Activision bought Guitar Hero publisher Red Octane.

Since then, Harmonix has worked on the Guitar Hero Rival Rock Band, and recently released the Kinect dance game Dance Central.

It’s not yet clear if Harmonix alone is up for sale, or if the Rock Band franchise is ready to be sold as well.

Equally unclear is what this means for MTV Games, which built its increasingly prominent games division around Harmonix and its games.