The developers behind Rock Band and Dance Central are keeping to their musical roots for their next project. VidRhythm is the name of the next game to come from Harmonix, becoming the studio’s first ever iOS title.
Speaking to Gamasutra, Harmonix CEO and co-founder Alex Rigopulos confirmed that his studio was hard at work on a game that will grace the iPad and iPhone.
"It will actually be our first iOS release as a studio, coming out relatively soon," said Rigopulos. "I can't say anything yet about what it is, but in parallel with all these huge console game productions we have underway, we're commencing our first iOS development project."
"The VidRhythm project has a tiny team that's doing our very first project in this space," he noted.
Not much is really known about the title at this point, only that it is will be coming to iOS. While Harmonix might be delving into the mobile space, this still has not stopped them from continuing to push out music titles on the major consoles.
"We're working on a lot of new IP, on many different platforms," Rigopulos said. "We're hiring, and growing again."
All in all, VidRhythm will add a new chapter to Harmonix’s portfolio. "We think there are a lot of creative opportunities [with smartphones] that we haven't really been able to focus on yet. So we're looking forward to doing more in that space."
Harmonix has traditionally been about developing music-based titles for gaming platforms, a genre that has struggled for the past couple of years thanks in part to the fall of Guitar Hero. Harmonix remains confident that there is still a lot of life in music-based gaming, noting the success of Dance Central.
"We at Harmonix are working on [new music game experiences], both large and small, and other people are as well," he said. "I think the basic point here is that music is a profound part of who we are."
Update: John Drake, director of communications, noted on Twitter that VidRhythm "isn't a game per se."
