For those of you that haven't been paying attention, Rock Band 3, ended its DLC run about 2 years ago after releasing DLC weekly for over 5 years. At the time it was said that Harmonix (HMX) would return to the franchise when the time was ready.
Then, in January a set of 3 songs were released as DLC. Two weeks ago, another two songs hit the store. and finally, yesterday a single (free) song was released.
But that's not all.
It also came with a press release that
Rock Band 4 will arrive later this year on X1 and PS4! It will feature everything from Rock Band
2, plus a lot of new stuff. That means, a real campaign (World Tour), Guitar/Bass/Drums/Vocals. Pro Drums & Harmonies will also make its way into RB4, but not Keys or Pro Guitar/Bass. All DLC* will transfer from your old gen console to the new ones within the same franchise. (i.e. 360 songs will transfer to X1, PS3 to PS4). HMX have also said that they are working with Sony & MicroSoft to enable the old instruments to work, but that is still very much up in the air at the moment. Also, no Wii U version is planned, nor export of RB3 on-disc songs. It was also noted that this will be the only Rock Band game of this generation. There will however be yearly updates, free or paid, as necessary.
A setlist have not been disclosed yet.
For those visiting PAX this weekend, it will be the first chance to sign up for pre-orders (and an exclusive Penny arcade guitar)
http://www.harmonixmusic.com/games/rock-band/http://www.harmonixmusic.com/blog/rock-band-4-announced/*Some DLC have been removed from the store due to licensing issues. Most songs in the early days were licensed for a 5 year period, and some artists/songwriters have chosen not to renew their contracts.