Viacom Inc. has been told to pay Harmonix a staggering $383 million USD in bonus payments. The report in the LA Times states that the media conglomerate has been ordered by the arbitration court to pay the developer additional money on top of the $150 million bonus already paid.
Harmonix, the developer responsible for Rock Band, was actually asking for another $550 million, bringing their total claim to $700 million. The developer didn't get everything it asked for, but was awarded an additional sum that would bring their final bonus payments to a jaw-dropping $533 million dollars.
Viacom have had a notoriously difficult time with the Rock Band franchise, because although sales were high, the cost of manufacturing the plastic instruments ultimately stunted the growth of what was once a popular series.
At this stage it is clear that Viacom are not going to take this decision lying down; their reaction was to file suit themselves with the Delaware Court of Chancery, challenging the judgement. Expect this saga to rumble on for some time.