Back in 2006, MTV Networks, a subsidiary of Viacom, purchased Harmonix for $175M. Viacom ended up selling the studio in December of 2010, but the terms of MTV’s initial acquisition of Harmonix included ‘earn-out’ payments be made to Harmonix’s former stockholders depending on the studios performance in 2007 and 2008.

In 2007 Viacom paid bonuses of $150M to Viacom, but the company later determined that it owed the former stockholders nothing in 2008, and even sought a refund of the earlier payment made in 2007. The two parties went to an arbitration agency to calculate the net amount owed to Harmonix based on the earlier ‘earn-out’ agreement. The agency deemed that Viacom owed an additional $383M and Viacom agreed to pay $84M of that amount to settle the 2007 bonuses, but the companies later went to court over the remaining $299M for the 2008 payouts.

Yesterday, after a year long court dispute a decision was made in favor of Harmonix, and Viacom has now been ordered to pay the remaining $299M to Harmonix.

Source: Polygon