Harmonix has been cranking out new downloadable songs for its mighty Rock Band franchise for years, but all good things must come to an end sooner or later, so it's with a heavy heart (and a plastic instrument, I bet) that the company has announced that it is ending new weekly song releases. Everything wraps up in April. Here's the news from Harmonix itself:
As you may have seen in our recent announcement regarding the release of Rock Band Blitz tracks as singles, Rock Band DLC production has gradually slowed over the past 5 years. We’ve managed to maintain a consistent release schedule for a staggering 275 consecutive weeks, releasing over 4,000 songs for the Rock Band Platform, but in recent months we’ve scaled production down as we’ve transitioned resources onto other projects. With several new titles in development and developers needed to usher these new games along, April 2nd will be the last weekly DLC release for Rock Band.
While there is no content currently scheduled beyond April 2nd, we still have DLC releases lined up for the next few weeks, including the remaining tracks from RB Blitz, several Pro guitar upgrades, and a handful of artists who have not yet appeared in Rock Band. We’re incredibly proud of the DLC milestones we’ve set, especially producing the largest music library of any game available, and we wouldn’t have been able to release as much outstanding content without the support of our amazing community. As thanks to the community, we’re going to continue the ongoing DLC sale of 50% off over 1,100 songs so fans can continue to build their personal libraries from our back catalog.
While it's sad to see the releases end, I bet that most people have had their fill of new tracks by now. The plastic instrument sing/play-a-long genre is dead for now in the market, and I don't know about you, but while I love playing Rock Band, I already have more songs that I'll ever have time to perform. I stopped buying DLC over a year ago. I suppose it's just time to move on, but of course there's nothing stopping you from dipping into the giant catalog once new releases end. There's enough out there to keep you busy for a lifetime. I'm keeping my instruments (even the drums that we could never properly calibrate). When given the opportunity and the time, it's still fun to rock.
