It’s no secret that Rock Band 4 didn’t sell well. While Mad Catz is treading water after placing their hopes in Rock Band’s sales, the game’s developer, Harmonix, is turning to its fans for support. In a fig public funding campaign, Hamornix is asking for $1.5 million to help the developer port Rock Band 4 to the PC, and to bring back Rock Band Network. The funding will go towards hiring an outside studio to do the PC port work while Harmonix focuses on updating the core game.
The Rock Band franchise has never been on the PC before. Harmonix even said that a PC port wouldn’t be in the cards for Rock Band 4. In an interview, a Harmonix employee said there was no audience on PC in part because there was no backlog of music libraries like there is on Xbox and PlayStation. He also mentioned how the PC was rife with piracy and security concerns, a claim that was later reversed by an official Harmonix statement.
This isn’t a great look for Harmonix. Watching Mad Catz crumble, Guitar Hero Live’s team crumble, and Harmonix ask for crowd funding for a PC port is pretty grim. Without the diversity that games like Dance Central brought, Harmonix is a one-note studio. If Rock Band is the only direction they can go in, then this may be the final plastic instrument party for all of us.
