Harmonix Announces 'Rock Band 4' for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One

Fake musicians, rejoice! The video game that made millions of dreams become living-room realities, Rock Band, has announced the fourth installment of the franchise. Details about the new edition are scarce, but developer Harmonix did offer some good news: The new game will be compatible with all the previous installments -- minus The Beatles: Rock Band, for licensing reasons. As Wired pointed out, Rock Band 4 will be out for Xbox One and PlayStation 4 in the fall. Lead developer Daniel Sussman said the company has made the fourth installment compatible with songs and instruments from the previous games out of respect to dedicated customers.

"We want to respect the investment that people have made in the platforms," Sussman said. "We are working our asses off with Microsoft and Sony to support legacy hardware. We're confident that we will come up with a solution."

Rock Band 3 was released in 2010 and, by all accounts, it seemed like the final installment of the franchise. The market had become saturated with similar games, like the Guitar Hero competitor, so Harmonix took a hiatus. The company hopes to get back to basics with the new game in addition to upping the interaction among bandmates.

"We're working on a lot of these things that really change the dynamic in a fun and healthy way," Sussman added, "leveraging some of the interplay and band dynamics that make playing music with other people really compelling."

Time had published a piece with a behind-the-scenes video about Rock Band 4, but that clip appears to have been taken down.

Harmonix will unveil Rock Band 4 at the E3 Expo in June.

Tags

Rock Band, The Beatles, Playstation 4