More Rock Band coming - just not on disc

In an interview with Game Informer, Chris Rigopulos, vice president of strategy and business development for Harmonix revealed that parting ways with MTV will not negatively affect the future release of DLC packs for the Rock Band franchise.

"I don’t expect any dramatic changes to how we select music. Well, I doubt you will see any more SpongeBob SquarePants packs,” joked Rigopulos.

When asked what kind of packs aspiring rockers can expect, he teased some of the artists among the Rock Band lineup for May. "We have an amazing lineup of DLC scheduled for May, including new tracks from the Foo Fighters, Lady Gaga, and Ozzy Osbourne.”

However, if you were hoping for Rock Band 4 to set up stage in stores this year, you’re out of luck; citing the robustness of Rock Band 3’s features coupled with the sheer volume of DLC available (over 2700 tracks), Harmonix believes a disc release this year is not the wisest decision for the business or for the fans.

The rhythm-game genre took a huge hit in popularity last year, with Rock Band 3 sales  disappointing enough for publishing partner MTV Games to severe ties with the franchise. Activision, publisher of the Guitar Hero franchise, lost interest in the genre shortly after releasing the critically panned Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. However, it seems that the critically praised yet financially underperforming DJ Hero series has also been thrown under the tour bus.