Has EA given up on Rock Band?

Conspicuous by its absence in EA’s forward planning for the financial year ahead was any mention of the once golden franchise that is Rock Band, leading to speculation that the publisher could be looking to drop its distribution agreement for the game.

Furthermore, with the end of its current deal with developer Harmonix now in sight, EA has refused to offer a concrete commitment to extend its current distribution deal with Viacom.

In a call to investors transcribed by Seeking Alpha, Wells Fargo Securities’ analyst Jess Lubert asked: Am I right in thinking you won’t release a new rock band title in fiscal 2011?”

COO John Schnappert responded: Our deal with Viacom and Harmonics continues through FY ‘11 at that time.

As you can see from our modelling, we have not included a lot of revenue for distribution next year, but we continued to have talks with them and hope that maybe there’s an opportunity to continue the relationship beyond that.”

A Harmonix and MTV Games spokesperson added: "The previously announced Green Day: Rock Band will be published by MTV Games and distributed by EA. Stay tuned for news of MTV Games’ other titles soon."