Harmonix: “Maybe People Are Ready” for More Rock Band

Though nothing concrete has been announced, Harmonix’s Nick Chester acknowledges that fans are always asking “Where’s Rock Band 4?”

It’s been just about four years since the last Rock Band retail title was released, although the series was supported by weekly downloadable content until spring of 2013. Since then, developer Harmonix has gone on to make games like the Dance Central series and this month’s Fantasia: Music Evolved. According to Forbes, gamers haven’t quite moved on from the franchise that made Harmonix famous. In a recent interview with PR Lead Nick Chester, Chester revealed that the whereabouts of Rock Band 4 is a common inquiry.

“We get this question all the time no matter what we announce… ‘Hey we’re making Disney Fantasia: Music Evolved!’ ‘Uh, where’s Rock Band 4?‘ ‘Hey we made a twin stick shooter with a team of less than 10 people!’ ‘Great, but where’s Rock Band 4?'” According to Chester, the enthusiasm for the series has not died down; “…there are literally hundreds of thousands of unique people still playing the game monthly.” In fact, at GameStop’s recent manager’s conference, employees of the game retailer told Chester “people are asking us about Rock Band all the time.” “If people are hearing that at retail, maybe there’s something going on. Maybe people are ready for it again,” Chester added.

Even if Harmonix was to announce Rock Band 4 tomorrow–which it’s not–there would be the tiny problem of compatibility to work out. Since 2010, three new consoles have launched, but gamers may not be thrilled about purchasing more costly, space-hogging instrument peripherals. “We’d do everything in our power to make sure there’s compatibility with those instruments if we were to make another Rock Band game,” Chester told Forbes. “We’ve already committed to building this huge library of downloadable content that we’d hope to be able to bring to another generation of consoles. We’ve already done that a little with Dance Central Spotlight, and we know it’s possible. That thinking carries over to the instruments as well.”

While the talk of Rock Band 4 is purely hypothetical at the moment, enthusiasts of the series can rejoice that Harmonix is at least thinking about it. Hold on to those plastic instruments, would-be rockers; you may have another use for them eventually.

Source: Forbes