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Harmonix receives more financial backing; three new games in pipeline

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Harmonix, the developer of the Rock Band and Dance Central franchises (and creator of Guitar Hero), has received investment from venture capital firm The Foundry Group. The VC previously backed Zynga and Sifteo.

"Last fall, Alex Rigopulos and his partner Eran Egozy showed me the three new games they were working on. Each addressed a different HCI (Human Computer Interface) paradigm. Each was stunningly envisioned. And each was magic, even in its rough form," wrote Foundry Group Managing Director Brad Feld, who will now take a spot on the Harmonix board. "Earlier this year I saw each game again, in a more advanced form. And I was completely and totally blown away – literally bouncing in my seat as I saw them demoed."

HCI is essentially an exploration of interacting with computers beyond the keyboard and mouse interface, which is something Harmonix has demonstrable experience with, given its history with new tech like Microsoft's Kinect.

Although Feld's words should not be taken to mean Harmonix is working on several peripheral-based games, it does mean that the developer is utilizing different concepts for player-game interaction.

There's still no word on when Harmonix will reveal these projects, but Microsoft has been a good partner for the company. We've got E3 coming up, as well as an expected new Xbox announcement in the coming months.