Harmonix Taking Rock Band In A "Very Different Direction"

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The music genre exploded earlier this generation but has since cooled off. But Harmonix isn't about to give up entirely.

In a Giant Bomb interview, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos, CTO Eran Egozy, and vice-president of product development Greg LoPiccolo addressed the team's future plans for Rock Band.

Rigopulos says they're currently considering a "fundamental creative reinterpretation" of what the franchise is, and a whole new direction. According to Egozy:

"You might assume we're going to add saxophone or something along those lines, but no, the kind of direction we're planning on taking Rock Band, the kind of innovation we have in mind, is taking it in a different direction, one that's more suitable to the kind of environment we're in, what people are doing now, what they're interested in playing now, versus, say, 2007."

Interestingly enough, Rigopulos added that the past is in the past; in other words, the rivalry with Activision's Guitar Hero won't influence future business decisions. The Harmonix CEO said that if the "right thing" came down the pike, they wouldn't refuse a partnership with the world's biggest video game publisher.

For the time being, we can do without some music games for a while. I've been burned out on the genre and so have others, so if the franchise in question does return, it better be plenty different. Just an opinion.

Tags: rock band, harmonix, activision, music games

10/25/2011 8:37:32 PM John Shepard

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