The studio that created the and franchises is up for sale.

Viacom the owner of and made the announcement after their latest financial report revealed that write-downs from Harmonix had cost the company a 59 percent drop in earnings from the same period in the last financial year.

President and CEO of Viacom Phillipe Dauman said: "We are very pleased with the financial and operational results we delivered in fiscal 2010, which were the direct result of our continuing creative success. With a strong balance sheet and increasing free cash flow, we are delivering on our commitment to return capital to our shareholders with the institution of a quarterly cash dividend in the second quarter followed by the resumption of our stock repurchase program in October."

Harmonix latest effort is Dance Central which is seen as one of Kinect's key launch titles.

Thanks GamesIndustry.biz.

By Ewan Aiton