We finally have some positive financial news coming from the game industry, sort of.  When MTV acquired Harmonix it seems they placed a few incentives into the deal.  Harmonix founders Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy received 150 million dollars last quarter and will receive another payment in 2009 which will exceed 150 million dollars.  That’s over 300 million dollars just in bonuses for the hard working founders of our beloved Rock Band franchise.

MTV’s parent company, Viacom released a statement explaining why they are paying Harmonix so much money even though they as a company are performing poorly financially,

“We may not have anticipated the payment would be that high, but it’s based on what they have achieved,” Viacom spokeswoman Kelly McAndrew told Bloomberg. “If they are making more money for us and we have to give a little back, that’s ok.”

I applaud you Viacom for taking the high road unlike most giant corporations and giving back to your employees just like you promised.

[Via Gamesindustry.biz]