Harmonix revealed that the January 25 DLC tracks forRock Band 4will be the final new ones added to the game.
This ends a streak of more than eight years of weekly DLC for the rhythm game. Ever sinceRock Band 4was releasedin October 2015, new DLC songs have been made available for purchase every week, giving the game one of the most impressive live service tails in the industry. Ultimately, Harmonix says it will have released nearly 3,000 songs as DLC forRock Band 4after the final content drop next week, and that live service support for seasons and online play will “continue as normal” after next week.
An explicit reason for DLC support ending isn’t given, but the blog post announcing it heavily implies that it’s because Harmonix’s full focus is now onFortnite Festival. “Looking ahead, the Harmonix team has been hard at work over the last two years to developFortnite Festival, which brings rhythm action gaming (and more) to theFortniteecosystem,” product manager Daniel Sussmanexplains in a blog post. “It’s free to play, we have a rotating selection of songs that you may play (for free) anytime. If you are a fan of the rhythm game category,Fortnite Festivalis the place to be; and with support forRB4instruments coming, this is not the time to hang up your guitars just yet.”
Harmonix was acquiredby Epic Games in 2021 “to develop musical journeys and gameplay forFortnite,” butpromised not to endRock Band 4 DLCsupport when that happened. Over time, online services for some Harmonix gameswere discontinued. The acquisition ultimately came to fruition as part of Epic Games’ Fortnite Experiences push in December 2023, which putFortnite Festival,Rocket Racing, andLego Fortniteon the same pedestal asFortnite‘s battle royale modes.
Fortnite Festivalwas ourleast favorite of the experiences, with Digital Trends’ Giovanni Colantonio writing that its “modes feel like lesser imitations of Harmonix’s best games.” Still, it’s a live service that Harmonix and Epic Games plan on continuing to support, and it seems like it’s now the only place where players will be able to find new Harmonix-made music experiences in the future.
