Harmonix CEO: Annual releases "counterproductive"

28 Feb 2011 at 14:55:40 by John Robertson

In an interview with Edge, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos has stated his belief that the pressure to release yearly updates for popular franchises "can be counterproductive to the pace of innovation because you can only do so much".

This comes as the fallout (and analysis) of Activision's 2010 fourth-quarter earnings report, including their decision to axe the Guitar Hero franchise, continues to make headlines and generate discussion as to the future of the music genre and videogame industry as a whole.

One such take on this issue, written by yours truly, can be found here.

In regards to Harmonix's recent switch from being part of the MTV family to an independent studio, Rigopulos said that "there's a freedom and nimbleness of action you have as an independent, to take certain kinds of risks, creatively and otherwise. They’re freedoms we’ve not had in the past several years as part of a large company."

For anyone worried about the state of music games, and whether or not Harmonix can continue to work with the music industry without the help of a mega-publisher, he says that "[music games] an important source of profits for the music industry", and that "Harmonix has the standing now to collaborate with the music business itself."

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