A new Rock Band game is on the horizon, according to a report from Bloomberg Business.
The new game is supposedly in development for the current generation of consoles, including the Xbox One and PlayStation 4. If true, it would be the first Rock Band game since the release of Rock Band Blitz in 2012.
Harmonix recently added new DLC songs for Rock Band, and also sent out a survey last month to consumers asking what gaming platforms they owned and whether they would be interested in pre-ordering a new Rock Band game.
The signs definitely seem to indicate that Rock Band developer Harmonix is up to something. IGN thought so too, and asked Harmonix for an official comment on the Bloomberg report. This was their response:
"We're excited by how enthusiastic our fans have been in regards to our most recently DLC releases, and we think it's awesome that people are speculating about the future of the franchise! While we still don't have anything to announce, hundreds of thousands of unique users are still actively playing Rock Band games each month. This passion our fans have shown for Rock Band over the years suggests that rock truly hasn't died, and we've always been clear that we'd love to return to the franchise when the time is right."
The statement neither confirms nor denies the report. It does, however, point out that there is still demand for Rock Band and that Harmonix is waiting for the right time to bring the franchise back from the dead. All signs seem to indicate that return will be here sooner rather than later.
Might we see a resurgence in the music game craze of of 2008-2010? Doug Creutz, an analyst at Cowen & Co., tells Bloomberg Business he doesn't think so.
"I really don't think we'll see any big revival of the plastic instrument trend," Creutz says.
But that doesn't mean it couldn't happen. Activision's equally popular Guitar Hero franchise has been dormant since 2010, but a new Rock Band could spark interest in another entry from that series as well. Gamers will just have to wait and see, and in the meantime pray they won't have to rebuy a $100 worth of plastic guitars.
