REACTION - Epic Games Buying Harmonix Is Exciting But Riddled With Unknowns

Mystery beats.

By Jay Tee
23/11/21

Lets cover what we do know. Epic Games has picked up music rhythm game developer Harmonix for an undisclosed sum. Their existing titles will still be supported, future planned updates are still in the pipeline, and we know that they’ll be involved in creating audio jolliness for Fortnite’s metaverse. Whatever that actually means.

At first glance, they appear to be retaining a large amount of autonomy and have secured their financial future. They’re also not getting rebranded a la Activision’s eventual transformation and absorption of Vicarious Visions. But despite this current status quo, one can reasonably question whether Harmonix will eventually evolve into something unrecognisable, as we’ve seen countless times before when independent teams get purchased.

So much of Harmonix’s legacy is rooted in unusual experimentation. Although Fortnite has never been afraid to embrace the weirder side of creative endeavours, there’s absolutely a version of how this all plays out where Harmonix are relegated to support studio status. Maybe this is redundant conjecture; after all, early signs suggest they’re going to be alright. But given how often developers have essentially lost their identity following a buyout, I can only hope Harmonix retains what makes them special.

Source: Eurogamer