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Harmonix at PAX East 2015

Hey gang!

PAX East was this past weekend in Boston, and we had a ton of stuff happening for our hometown show. Here’s a quick recap if you missed all the excitement.

On Thursday, the day before PAX East started, we announced Rock Band 4, coming later this year to Xbox One and PlayStation 4. We are SO EXCITED to bring Rock Band back. For more from the Rock Band 4 team, watch this behind-the-scenes video.

On Friday morning, PAX East started, and we were right there waiting for fans streaming into the convention center with a Rock Band 4 photobooth. Convention-goers took a ton of awesome pictures on Rock Band backgrounds. Here’s one of some of the Harmonix team!

Rock Band 4 Photobooth
Harmonix Employees at the Rock Band Photobooth

Once fans got to the show floor, we had a huge Harmonix booth! Amplitude was playable on the floor with both single player and Team Play stations available for hands on. We had tons of fans swing by, some reliving fond memories of the original game, and others playing for the first time. Overall, everyone that played was blown away. Having devs from the Amplitude team on the floor ready to jump in to a Team Play match made the experience even better. The feedback has been absolutely incredible. We can't wait to show you what else we have in store for Amplitude at future shows.

Amplitude at PAX East
Amplitude in the Harmonix booth

A City Sleeps, our music-driven shoot-em-up was also available to play, with members of the A City Sleeps team on hand to talk about the game.

We also had – for the first time – Rock Band merch available to buy! Fans could pre-order a PAX-exclusive Penny Arcade Rock Band 4 guitar, get a Rock Band 4 Official Pinny Arcade Pin, or a sweet Rock Band 4 t-shirt.

Rock Band 4 Penny Arcade Exclusive Guitar
PAX-Exclusive Penny Arcade Rock Band 4 Guitar

On Saturday, we had a party at the Hard Rock Café in Boston featuring live band karaoke, tons of snacks, and swag provided by Mad Catz. There was a VIP room for Amplitude Kickstarter VIP Backers where they could play the game with members of the team and get extra special exclusive swag. At 10pm we had a special guest performance from Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls. The show was amazing, and a great way for us to celebrate that Rock Band 4 is coming. Frank Turner’s song “I Still Believe” was released for Rock Band 3 DLC for FREE (and will be playable in Rock Band 4) on Thursday.

Frank Turner on stage
Frank Turner

Aaron & Pope with Frank Turner
HMXHenry, Frank Turner, and Pope

We also had a ton of Harmonix employees participate in panels, from VR to social media to the ridiculous PAXAMANIA panel.

PAXAMANIA
PAXAMANIA poster by Jack Mantykiewicz

As if all of that wasn’t enough, Rock Band 3 and Dance Central Spotlight were also featured at the freeplay areas! On Sunday, Jessa was at the Gearbox panel to announce that Borderlands characters are now unlockable playable characters in Dance Central Spotlight. Check out some gameplay footage here.

Borderlands in Dance Central Spotlight
Claptrap in Dance Central Spotlight

Thank you to all the fans that came to the booth, played our games, took a photobooth picture, came to the party, went to panels, or just said hi as we passed on the show floor!