Harmonix Announces Rock Band 2

In a surprise move, Harmonix has announced its intention to issue a sequel to last year's smash hit videogame Rock Band.

Rock Band 2 will be fully compatible with existing Rock Band controllers, but will also be bundled with upgraded versions of the game's instruments, according to IGN. More importantly, the new game will also make use of existing Rock Band downloadable content, so large collections of downloaded tunes won't suddenly become obsolete. The number of songs to be included with the game may reach as high as 300, but has not yet been confirmed.

"As successful as the original Rock Band continues to be, we've now had the benefit of the last eight months to listen to our fans' requests and to build upon that foundation," said Alex Rigopoulos, CEO of Harmonix, the developer behind the game. "Rock Band 2 is a second-generation band game that will elevate the music game experience to the next level."

Rock Band 2 is currently scheduled to ship for the Xbox 360 in September, while "other platforms" will see the game later in year. "Microsoft has been a great partner throughout the launch of Rock Band in the last year and their continued support is instrumental in supporting the more advances features and cross-title compatibility we will have in Rock Band 2," a Harmonix rep said. "Of course, our goal is to make Rock Band 2 accessible to all and we look forward to bringing Rock Band 2 to all relevant platforms later this year."

In a follow-up interview, Rock Band Lead Designer Dan Teasdale confirmed that even after the release of Rock Band 2, downloadable content will continue to work with the original game. "We've been working hard with Microsoft and Sony to develop a way to share content between games, and we're really happy that we'll be the first game to support fully functional cross-title DLC," he said. "As far as Harmonix is concerned, there's no difference between Rock Band 1 DLC and Rock Band 2 DLC - we're just releasing awesome songs every week onto the Rock Band platform, all of which are playable by the Rock Band titles that support DLC."

IGN's full interview with Dan Teasdale can be read here.

Permalink

Activision did not make Rock Band, Harmonix did.

Wish I had a better excuse for that than epic brain freeze, but thanks to all for pointing out the error nonetheless.

I like these kinds of games, but I'll never purchase one myself. Too much money, and I always get bored of all of my new games in like a week and start playing Final Fantasy XI again.

This really isn't that big of a surprise. Rock Band=lotsa $$, Rock Band 2=even more $$. It was just a matter of time.

Companies must love these games: create the game once, tweak it, and slap a number on it - voila more money.

That's word for word EA's mission statement.

ya but at least rock was a game that provided lot of fun, and a second version does help to fully utilize anything missed in the original. if they release a third one though, im not so sure there....

I'm sorry to be the negative one about this announcement, but Harmonix haven't even shipped the game into Australia yet, and they have already announced RB2? So now that this is out, what's the point in retailers even stocking this title, espesually when they are saying that it's coming out in September??

Nice work EA/Harmonix... thanks for forgetting about the people who have been patiently waiting for this game for the last year while everyone else has been able to play it.

I'd rather they went back and fixed RB1 for the Wii....But now that I know RB2 is on the way I can wait for that and hope they get it right. If not GH4 Wii has promised a lot.

Why does it feel like Activision will announce "Guitar Hero: Times Infinity" and Harmonix will announce "Rock Band Times Infinity: Plus One".

TheNecroswanson:
Aren't some palces in the world still not getting the first Rockband? Sounds to me like they're getting ahead of themselves.

I hope they rot in hell and the game epic fails.

Rockband finally made it over here (UK), like a month ago. Now they announce a sequel?
No thanks Harmonix, I'll get GH: World Tour instead, at least I know they'll sell it here within 6 months of the rest of the world.

Great, now I just need to pay off the loan I had to take out to buy the first Rock Band.