When Rock Band initially launched in 2007, Harmonix touted it as a platform for players going forward. While subsequent launches and peripherals joined the mix in the succeeding years, the main pillar for that claim is the developer's steadfast support of the Rock Band platform through its aggressive downloadable content schedule. Today, however, the studio announced the end of Rock Band 4 downloadable content.
The news comes more than two years after Harmonix was acquired by Fortnite and Unreal Engine developer Epic Games. Epic has since leveraged the studio's expertise for a side game within Fortnite called Fortnite Festival, which utilizes gameplay similar to the Rock Band. In the time since the studio's acquisition, the developer has closed the online servers for Rock Band 3, ended post-launch support for Fuser, and now, has ended Rock Band 4's more-than-eight-year run of weekly DLC.
According to Harmonix, the final DLC, which is scheduled to release on January 25, will reflect the team's feelings about this news. "We deliberated long and hard about how to frame the last blast of RB DLC of this era," Harmonix product manager Daniel Sussman wrote in a blog post. "The last two weeks will feature some tear-jerkers that sum up our feelings about this moment."
Today, which is the second-to-last release for this run of DLC, includes Elton John's "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road" and The Troggs' "Our Love Will Still Be There." When Harmonix closed out Rock Band 3 DLC in 2013, its final release was Don McLean's "American Pie."
The developer trailblazed forward compatible downloadable content, even leaping across console generations and rolling over the majority of its base-game songs into future entries. Outside of a break that started in April 2013 and lasted until Rock Band 4 launched in October 2015 (save for a random week in January 2015), Harmonix has supported the Rock Band series through weekly DLC drops since 2007. To date, Harmonix has released more than 3,000 songs through downloadable content.
If you'd like to read more about Harmonix's ambitions and legacy, check out this old feature I wrote in 2013 about how Harmonix sparked a DLC revolution with Rock Band. For more on the future of Harmonix under Epic Games, check out our interview with Harmonix founder and head Alex Rigopolous here.
What are your thoughts on this announcement? Do you still buy Rock Band DLC or even play the game? How many DLC songs do you own? Sound off in the comments below!
Developer Supermassive Games' branching-narrative horror, Until Dawn, which exclusively hit PlayStation in 2015, is the latest video game to get the film adaptation treatment. The Hollywood Reporter reports that Shazam! and Annabelle: Creation director David F. Sandberg will direct the Until Dawn movie.
It, Annabelle, and The Nun screenwriter Gary Dauberman is "doing a pass on the script," which was originally written by The Invitation writer Blair Butler, according to THR. This Until Dawn movie adaptation is being produced by Screen Gems and PlayStation Productions, two divisions within the wider Sony company. It is described as an R-rated horror movie.
Notably, Until Dawn used various movie and television actors for its cast, including Rami Malek, Hayden Panettiere, Jordan Fisher, and more. There's no word about whether this adaptation will bring back any of them to reprise their roles.
While Sandberg is perhaps best known as the director of both Shazam! and Shazam: Fury of the Gods, his moviemaking starts in horror; he made Closet Space and Lights Out (adapted from his Lights Out short film) in 2016 before directing Annabelle: Creation in 2017. His latest movie was Shazam: Fury of the Gods, which hit theaters last year.
This Until Dawn movie will join a slew of other PlayStation Production adaptations, including last year's Gran Turismo movie, The Last of Us TV series for HBO (with a second season arriving next year), and Peacock's Twisted Metal show, which has been renewed for a second season. These adaptations join a bigger effort of bringing video games to the silver screen and TVs at home, including 2023's The Super Mario Bros. Movie, and 2022's Halo: The Series (Season 2 promises the fall of Reach storyline and premieres next month).
For more, read Game Informer's review of Until Dawn, and then check out our thoughts on its PlayStation VR spin-off, Until Dawn: Rush of Blood. Supermassive released a spiritual successor to Until Dawn in 2022 called The Quarry – read Game Informer's review here – but its next game is Little Nightmares III, which is due out sometime this year.
[Source: The Hollywood Reporter]
Do you think Until Dawn will make a good video game adaptation? Let us know in the comments below!