Harmonix is getting the band back together- Rock Band 4 is official

Rock Band is finally back and heading for current generation consoles, as Harmonix teams with peripheral-maker Mad Catz.

Get ready to strum that plastic guitar once again… well, actually it’ll be an all-new plastic guitar, but you know what I mean. Rock Band is heading back to consoles with a fourth numbered installment that’ll be packed with all the trimmings.

There isn’t too much to say about the actual game at the moment, other than what you saw in the video above and that the game will support all 2000+ songs released for the Rock Band platform since 2007, but as far as the retail editions go, those we can fill you in about as Mad Catz has already opened up a notification system for gamers to register their interest in pre-orders. As you might imagine, there’ll be a pair of packs on the way to retail when the game launches later this year.

There’ll be no standalone edition, since there’s no one with a compatible guitar yet, but the basic edition will include a copy of the game and a wireless Fender Stratocaster Guitar controller. Then there’s the big boy; the Band-in-a-Box Bundle is the big box version and will include the guitar, plus a drum kit (also wireless), and a mic (no word on whether or not that’s wireless too).

Said Mad Catz’ Darren Richardson and Harmonix’ Dan Sussman:

“We are very excited to bring the band back together, and re-team with Harmonix to deliver the next installment of the legendary Rock Band^™ franchise to a new generation of consoles,” said Darren Richardson, President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz.  “Harmonix understands music gaming better than anyone, and we are confident that the unrivalled music selection and next generation features will prove incredibly enticing to passionate gamers and music fans alike.”

Daniel Sussman, Product Manager for Harmonix commented, “The creative energy and excitement at the studio right now is at an all-time high. We’re thrilled to have Mad Catz as an important partner as we move the franchise to a new generation of consoles, and we can’t wait to show our fans how we’re evolving the gameplay they love.”

With over 2000 songs currently available for the last-gen versions of Rock Band, it isn’t exactly a stretch to think that there’s a hungry audience ready for a brand new RB experience. Rock Band 4 is on the way to the Xbox One and the PS4 and will kick off its tour at retail this year. When that’ll be exactly, we don’t know, but you could probably bet on finding out a lot more about the game at E3 this June.