Konami drops Rock Band lawsuit

In 1999, Konami launched the DrumMania and Guitar Freaks series, some of the first rhythm games to use instrument peripherals. Some 10 years later, the Japanese publisher sued Viacom, parent company of Harmonix, claiming the developer infringed on several drum and guitar peripheral patents in its Rock Band line of games.

Today, the Bloomberg news service reports that the two companies have settled their differences out of court. The financial particulars of the deal were not made public, but they were sufficient enough to have Konami drop "all claims and counterclaims" against Viacom in the Tyler, Texas-filed suit. The decision also saw Viacom drop its countersuit against Konami, which was filed in Boston.

The Viacom-Konami settlement comes just one month before Rock Band 3 hits the US market. The game will be the first in the series to introduce keyboards to the franchise's instrumental mix, which had previously included only drums, guitar, bass, and vocals. The game will feature a bevy of artists from a variety of genres, including pop-rock group Tokio Hotel and reggae icon Bob Marley.

Rock Band 3 is due out October 26 in North America and October 29 in Europe on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, and DS. For more on Rock Band, check out GameSpot's preview.