Harmonix crowdfunding Rock Band 4 for PC

Rock Band 4

There has never been a Rock Band game on PC. Harmonix has specifically said Rock Band 4 wasn't coming to PC. This hasn't been a problem for me, because my study is so small that there's hardly room to head bang never mind unleash a cracking guitar solo. For thousands of you, however, it's been reason to cast sidelong looks at consoles and consider defecting. Harmonix, it seems, has at last seen the light of the RGB keyboard and wants to bring Rock Band 4 to PC. Unfortunately that light isn't bright enough for the studio to dive right in, and it's asking for $1.5 million crowdfunding via Fig.

That bit isn't a surprise—Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopulos sits on Fig's advisory board.

In addition to all the console features, the PC version of Rock Band 4 will have Steam Workshop support to get your own musical genius into the game. Mouse and keyboard will also be supported as input methods if the fantasy of being a rockstar means nothing and you just want a bangin' rhythm game. As many existing Rock Band instruments "as possible" will be supported from the off, and if you don't have any, they'll be supplied through the Fig campaign itself.

There's a caveat in that Harmonix will be commissioning Sumo Digital to make the port while it focuses on the console side, but Sumo has a solid reputation, leaving my sole concern the alarming $1.5 million price tag. Not much in game budget terms, no, but a lot to ask of a crowdfunding campaign. I suspect its success or failure will be decisive in whether more games in the plastic guitar genre come to PC in future.