In a bit of a surprise move, Harmonix all of a sudden want to bring the Rock Band series to PC in the form of Rock Band 4. There’s a freshly-launched crowdfunding effort up on Fig, looking for $1.5 million USD.
Another $500,000 USD will be coming from Harmonix themselves, which puts the porting cost at a not-inconsiderable $2.0 million USD. That’s the price of getting all that licensed music across, I suppose.
Sheffield’s Sumo Digital will be aiding with the porting effort (funding permitting, of course).
The main perk for a PC version of Rock Band 4 (other than it would be the first appearance on PC for this series), seems to be integration with the Steam Workshop. Harmonix are planning to revive the old ‘Rock Band Network’ system that allowed people to convert their own (self-written) songs to the Rock Band format.
“Using Steam Workshop, you can submit those files to us—we’ll do a quick check to make sure they play properly and include music you own, and then put them into the game via the Rock Band 4 in-game store,” the pitch says. “Steam Workshop makes sure you get your cut of the revenues when they sell.”
The minimum pledge amount to still receive a copy of the game is $50 USD, and the intended release date is Autumn 2016. More details are on the Fig campaign page, including information about compatible controllers and whether you’ll be able to use any DLC songs purchased for other platforms (nope).
