When it comes to music games, many young adults remember the days of the PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii, when Guitar Hero reigned supreme. But one game that changed the face of the music game genre was the company Harmonix. The developer was responsible for making one of the most popular music games of all time. Sitting right next to Guitar Hero, Rock Band took center stage, taking the original concept of Guitar Hero and flipping it on its head by introducing a four-player game, where two players took the roles of guitar and bass, one person sang into a microphone, and another person played the drums. The invention of the Rock Band set for players became one of the most interesting concepts for players.

Harmonix didn’t stop there, however, as they started moving on to making other games, such as Dance Central, and even their most recent title FUSER. Harmonix’s place in music games is anything but understated. They’ve become the one developer who knows how to push the boundaries, and with a reputation like that, one of the big companies has decided to pick them up.

The developer announced on November 23^rd that they’ve joined forces with Epic Games, who want to user the developer to help out with their metaverse, referecing their plans to expand their online universe in Fortnite. However, this doesn’t mean that Harmonix is going to be absorbed into Epic Games, as they still have titles to take care of. Posted on a developer blog, the musical developer spoke about their acquisition. “From the earliest days of The Axe to Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Dance Central, our VR titles, FUSER, and everything in between, we have aspired to redefine what a music game can be. Now, we’ll be working with Epic to once again challenge expectations as we bring our unique brand of musical gaming experiences to the Metaverse, and we couldn’t be more excited.” Following this up, they have a short Q&A about the future of Harmonix titles now that Epic Games has bought them out.

For those worried about the DLC plans for the Rock Band series, since Harmonix has continued putting DLC out for the game for quite some time now, and letting players continue to jam on newer consoles while still being able to use their original instruments, the development team stated to players that there’s nothing to worry about. The company still has plans to make DLC for the game, and they’re not finished after this next batch of content coming to the rhythm game.

For those who are worried about Rock Band Rivals, the online leaderboard showing the leaders in the game, as well as bands who have stepped up and made their name in the community, Harmonix has assured players that Season 25 is coming, and they have plans for Season 26 and beyond.

Events for their newest game, FUSER, are still going to happen without change as well. However, for those who are holding out for more instruments for Rock Band, that isn’t in the plans for Harmonix, despite their constant support of the Rock Band titles.

FUSER and all of Harmonix’s titles are also still going to be available on steam as well, so players won’t see these games disappear from the store as the company starts moving their new titles to the Epic Games Store.

They also left a final assurance that the company isn’t going to abandon the servers of any of their previous titles and is going to keep players playing their games.

In the blog post, they speak about their plans for the future as well. Since Epic has bought the company, the Harmonix team is now moving into Fortnite. Their goals are to “create musical journeys and gameplay” inside of the game. They said that they’re not going to give out much of the details at the moment, but the team is excited about the prospects of working on Fortnite.

However, with the developer being focused on music, as well as their wording in the blog, there’s a possibility that they’re going to be making something in relation to Epic’s concerts they’ve held inside of the game. The most recent concert in the game was for the music artist Ariana Grande. With Harmonix’s way of making music interactive, the next concert is going to include some interactive aspects of the game most likely, something that only Harmonix can do.

What this could be is anyone’s guess. It could be some rhythm version of the concert, or a journey through a world that moves to the beat of the music, something that players can interact with, and remember for when they talk about it when the event is over. It could even be something that is completely visual as well, seeing that Epic’s concerts have been a feast for the eyes of fans.

However, it seems that only time can tell what Epic has planned for the company. While it may be said that this is another case of a larger company gobbling up a smaller company, there’s still a silver lining. Harmonix isn’t forced to abandon the people that they hold dear, and while they’re still working for Epic, they can still support their current titles and make sure that fans are happy with their games.