After the market became oversaturated with music-related games in the late 2000s, it seemed that series such as Guitar Hero and Rock Band were gone for good. However, Harmonix Music Systems has been very clear that it fully intends to keep the beat going – sorry for that – and has made a new announcement: Rock Band 4 is coming this year.
Announced today via a behind-the-scenes video on Harmonix’s YouTube page, Rock Band 4 is the first release in the band-simulating series since 2012’s Rock Band Blitz, and the first major entry since 2010’s Rock Band 3. While no information on new gameplay features or the game’s soundtrack have been given at this time, Harmonix has shed some light on a few details by way of an FAQ on their forums:
- All downloadable content purchased for previous Rock Band games will be forwards-compatible with Rock Band 4 in the same platform family (Xbox 360 songs work on Xbox One, etc.). This includes exported tracks from Rock Band, Rock Band 2, Green Day: Rock Band, and Lego Rock Band. However, these songs will be playable “as [Harmonix] make[s] that content available.”
- The game will focuse solely on guitar, bass, drums, and microphone gameplay. Pro guitar and keyboard from Rock Band 3 will not be supported.
- Harmonix is partnering with Mad Catz to create new instrument peripherals for the game. However, Harmonix is attempting to make all previous Rock Band instruments compatible with the game.
Rock Band 4 is set for release later in 2015. The game will only be released for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
Source: Harmonix Blog, Harmonix Forums
*crosses fingers* Please let there be The Beatles: Rock Band 2.
The last one was released to coincide with the 09/09/09 remasters, which was a big deal.
If they were to do another one, I think it would have to be for another big set release – I can’t imagine what that would be unless they gave the entire catalog a “modern” remaster (ala Yellow Submarine Songtrack) as that’s the kind of audio Rock Band requires and part of the reason we didn’t get the entire catalog released as DLC last time.
That we didn’t get Help!, or Let It Be DLC last time around is a shame.
So many 9s.
I suppose. I always thought of it as a “One After 909” type thing.
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