Game Developers Shift from Rock Band to Fortnite Updates

• Harmonix ends Rock Band 4 DLC, shifts focus to Fortnite Festival.
• Rock Band 4's journey ends after eight years and almost 3,000 DLC songs.
• No new tracks will be added to RB4 after January 25.
• All existing songs in Rock Band 4 will remain for players to enjoy.
• Harmonix's future lies with Fortnite Festival, a rhythm game within Fortnite.

Harmonix Ends Rock Band 4 DLC, Focus Shifts to Fortnite Festival

A captivating image displays Fortnite characters sharing the stage with pop star, The Weeknd. This image, courtesy of Epic Games, sets the tone for the recent announcement by Harmonix.

Harmonix, a studio under the ownership of Epic Games and known for the popular Rock Band franchise, has officially declared that the weekly DLC releases for Rock Band 4 from 2015 are coming to an end. The studio will now concentrate its efforts on Fortnite Festival.

Rock Band 4's Journey

Rock Band 4 made its debut nearly a decade ago in October 2015, marking a comeback for the franchise after a five-year hiatus following the release of Rock Band 3 and the crash of plastic instrument games like Guitar Hero and DJ Hero. Although Rock Band 4 didn’t manage to revive the once popular plastic instrument genre of rhythm games, it managed to cultivate a dedicated community of players who continued to enjoy the game and purchase DLC songs for it, even as it became increasingly difficult to find replacement instrument controllers.

However, after eight years and almost 3,000 DLC songs, Harmonix has decided to move forward.

End of an Era for Rock Band 4

In a January 17 post on the official Harmonix blog, Rock Band 4's product manager Daniel Sussman revealed that the last DLC music released on January 25 will be the final one for Rock Band 4. Sussman assured that all other live services, including Rivals seasons and online play, will continue as usual, but no new tracks will be added to RB4 after this month.

Importantly, Sussman clarified that all the songs players have in Rock Band 4 will remain, allowing them to continue enjoying their previously purchased songs “for as long as you like.”

Fortnite Festival: The Future of Harmonix

As for Harmonix's next steps, it's clear if you've been following Fortnite lately. Epic's widely enjoyed battle royale game expanded in December with the addition of three new games built inside Fortnite. Fortnite Festival, a controller-based rhythm game featuring popular songs from various genres, is one of them. Harmonix is the team behind this game and it’s what the studio will be focusing on after Rock Band 4.

“Looking ahead, the Harmonix team has been hard at work over the last two years to develop Fortnite Festival,” said Sussman. “It brings rhythm action gaming (and more) to the Fortnite ecosystem. It’s free to play, we have a rotating selection of songs that you can play (for free) anytime. If you are a fan of the rhythm game category, Fortnite Festival is the place to be.”

Sussman also confirmed that support for RB4 instruments is coming soon to Festival, so players don't need to "hang up your guitars just yet."

“Working in support of the Rock Band community has been a high point in my professional life,” concluded Sussman.

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