Rock Band 4 could be on its way to the PC later this year — but only if developer Harmonix is able to crowdfund the money necessary for the port. Today the studio launched a campaign on Fig hoping to raise $1.5 million over the next 35 days; Harmonix says the full cost to develop the PC version is $2 million, and the developer will be contributing the extra $500,000 itself. If successful, it will marks the series’ debut on PC.
Fig is a relatively new, game-focused crowdfunding platform that differs from sites like Kickstarter by letting backers become investors in the project as well, earning a percentage of revenues. It’s the same platform that Double Fine used to raise more than $3 million to fund a sequel to cult classic Psychonauts. The port of Rock Band 4 will be handled by a separate studio, Sumo Digital, which has previously worked on games like Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and the most recent Disney Infinity. “Working with an external developer allows us to keep the core Rock Band engineering, design, and production teams at Harmonix dedicated to developing new features and content for both console and PC,” Harmonix says.
Rock Band 4 could be on its way to the PC later this year — but only if developer Harmonix is able to crowdfund the money necessary for the port. Today the studio launched a campaign on Fig hoping to raise $1.5 million over the next 35 days; Harmonix says the full cost to develop the PC version is $2 million, and the developer will be contributing the extra $500,000 itself. If successful, it will marks the series’ debut on PC.
Fig is a relatively new, game-focused crowdfunding platform that differs from sites like Kickstarter by letting backers become investors in the project as well, earning a percentage of revenues. It’s the same platform that Double Fine used to raise more than $3 million to fund a sequel to cult classic Psychonauts. The port of Rock Band 4 will be handled by a separate studio, Sumo Digital, which has previously worked on games like Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and the most recent Disney Infinity. “Working with an external developer allows us to keep the core Rock Band engineering, design, and production teams at Harmonix dedicated to developing new features and content for both console and PC,” Harmonix says.
Rock Band 4 first launched on the Xbox One and PS4 last October, as part of a resurgence of instrument-based music games; a reboot of Guitar Hero launched in the same month. The newest Rock Band introduced new features like freeform guitar solos that gave players some newfound freedom when playing along to their favorite songs. The PC version will be largely the same, but will include the ability for players to create their own songs that will then be playable in the game. You’ll also be able to share — and sell — your creations with the Rock Band community through the Stem Workshop.
If the crowdfunding is successful, the PC version of Rock Band 4 is expected to launch on Steam this fall.
