2009 saw the release of music-inclined game "Rock Band," with the third installment released in 2010. Now, after a gap of several years and an announcement of shutting down, game developer Harmonix – the same company behind the "Guitar Hero" and "Dance Central" titles – has announced that "Rock Band 4" will be released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 this year.
According to Eric Pope of Harmonix, "With every new project, the studio has challenged the perception of what a 'music game' can be, and learned a lot in the process. With those lessons under our belt, we felt like we were prepared to dive back into our beloved Rock Band series, and actually push the genre forward. We've landed on a design that doubles down on the core Rock Band experience fans love, while innovating on gameplay in some super exciting ways that we'll have more to say about a little later this year."
Fans of the old "Rock Band" games need not worry about their purchased content and old songs as they will still be playable in "Rock Band 4." There would also be new peripherals to be released to be used for the new "Rock Band" title. However, the concern with the development right now is for the new game and next-gen consoles to accept old peripherals, as there is zero compatibility between the two at the moment. CEO Alex Rigopulos said they are working closely with Microsoft and Sony to make it possible.
He also said, "A relatively smaller number of Rock Band enthusiasts -- give them a great experience -- and we can certainly have a very sustainable business that way with a fraction of the audience who was playing before."
No official details have been revealed regarding the revamped gameplay or the release date, although "Rock Band 4" is expected to be rolled out sometime this year.
