When MTV Games selfishly dumped Harmonix from its game line-up (despite the millions of copies of Rock Band and Dance Central that were solid), many thought that the developer would be in trouble, like most other shuttered developers as of late.  But they bought their own rights back, hunkered in and went back to work on thriving with their products.  Now, months after being let go, the team is doing better than expected, thanks to some quality Rock Band 3 content and a promising Dance Central sequel.  The party's not over for them, not by a long shot.

Granted, the MTV Games decision was definitely a hasty one, and probably one that was made because of how costly The Beatles Rock Band ended up being, despite the fact that Harmonix did a bang-up job making the game as remarkable as it was.  But it turns out that dumping the developer was the company's loss, as Harmonix continues to live on as its own independent team.

At E3 earlier this year, it launched another one of its big projects, the upcoming Dance Central 2, which had people shaking their booty at their booth over the course of the three-day expo and enjoying the song line-up to come.  Interest in the series remains at an all time high, despite the fact that not everyone owns a Kinect -- and competition is nipping at their heels from Ubisoft's Just Dance series, among others.  There's no question that the sequel should sport some impressive sales, and should have some DLC to support it in the long run.

But Dance Central 2 isn't the only party that Harmonix is continuing to keep up.  Rock Band 3 has received some great support over the past few months, far past when Activision stopped uploading DLC for its competing Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock game.  We've seen song entries from Yes, Ozzy Osbourne, and many other artists, and this Tuesday brings a must-have six-pack of rock songs that fans from the 80's will certainly appreciate.  Def Leppard will bring more classics to the forefront in a $10 priced pack, which includes live versions of "Pour Some Sugar On Me" and "Animal", as well as "Rock of Ages" (with the weird priest chant at the beginning -- yes!), "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" (an instant classic for the band) and "Photograph."  One of the band's later songs, "Undefeated," will also be thrown in for good measure.

And Harmonix isn't done yet.  An Incubus five-song pack is coming soon, and rumors are circling that Journey will get a big pack released soon.  (That has yet to be confirmed though -- but seeing as how "Don't Stop Believin'" is one of the game's biggest DLC hits, we'd be surprised if it didn't happen.)

In this industry where questionable closures and cancellations happen way too often, we're glad to see that Harmonix is still holding its own.  It's one of those rare success stories that make us smile, even though it comes down mostly to artists lending their stuff for interactive play.  Hey, as long as the party is going as well as it is, who cares?  Someone give us a plastic guitar and set up the Kinect.

About the Author

Robert Workman

Senior Writer/Editor

Robert has years of experience in the video game industry, writing for such sites as AOL GameDaily, PlanetXbox360 and Comic Book Resources.  He can also outdrink you any day of the week.  And twice on Sunday.  Follow him at www.twitter.com/thedcd.