The Rock Band 4 team is back in Boston working hard on the game here in the studio. We had a great time at E3 this year – we got Rock Band 4 in the hands of press, fans, and all sorts of people in between. We hosted an event open to our community of players, were featured in Microsoft’s Xbox booth during E3, and even had our own main stage set up in an outdoor space for everyone to enjoy. It was awesome to see people jump right into the game, play new songs with strangers and friends, and rock out as if they had never stopped rocking. Everyone had a blast learning the new features included in Rock Band 4, especially the Freestyle Guitar Solos!
As of Monday, (6/15), our Pre-Orders for Rock Band 4 are officially live! Our partners at Mad Catz are actively monitoring the number of Pre-Orders and manufacturing hardware accordingly. We want you to be able to enjoy the full Rock Band 4 experience with these new and improved instruments ready to play on launch day, and we can only make that happen if you let us know you’re interested! Head over to Amazon for all of the Pre-Order details.
HMX Matt, Dave, and Tom of Harmonix getting down with Rock Band 4’s FreeStyle Guitar Solos!
We were super excited to debut the flagship feature of Rock Band 4 at E3: Freestyle Guitar Solos! It got an incredible reception as player after player busted out their own blistering guitar solos. Freestyle Guitar Solos, along with the Dynamic Drum Fills and Freestyle Vocals, add a lot of new tools to the Rock Band players’ arsenal.
Rock Band 4: Behind the Scenes with Freestyle Guitar Solos
We had multiple Freestyle Guitar Solo stations set up around E3 for fans to check out the new feature and give them the creative space to be their own individual rock star. The Freestyle Guitar Solos were a huge hit at the convention – people from different ages, places, and backgrounds came by and rocked out with us. Fans were stoked to see this innovative gameplay as a refreshing addition to the known beatmatch gameplay, and had a blast being able to create their own rocking solos for the crowd.
HMX Product Manager Eric Pope and the band!
On Monday, we took Rock Band 4 out to a three-story converted bank in downtown Los Angeles for the first ever Xbox FanFest. It was a tremendously fun time, playing the game with 500 of Xbox’s biggest fans from around the country. It was a great kickstart to a very busy week. The pure joy people experience playing Rock Band 4 with others, friends and stranger alike, is something really unique to our game.
Xbox Live’s Major Nelson rocking the stage!
After the Xbox fans departed, the event morphed into a swanky nighttime soiree for hundreds of press, YouTubers, and other party-goers. We’re happy to report Rock Band 4 maintains the late night party standard it’s always been held to.
At the entrance to the Mayan!
The ladies of Harmonix – Rachel, Criss, Marissa, and Rebecca – rocking out together!
One of the biggest highlights from our time on the West Coast was getting Rock Band 4 into the hands of our fans, the dedicated community that took the time to come out to the Mayan on Tuesday night and play Rock Band 4. We had an incredible time putting on a Rock band 4 show at the Mayan – we had two full band setups and two guitar solo stations. At the end of the night, everyone came up on stage and performed one final rendition of Boston’s “More Than a Feeling” to end the night. We can’t say it enough – THANK YOU to everyone who joined us that evening and thank you to everyone who continues to rock out with us today!
The grand finale = Harmonix + our fans playing one final song for the night.
Rocking out in Microsoft’s Xbox booth!
Rock Band 4 was featured in Microsoft’s Xbox booth throughout all of E3! We were proud to share this space with some of the industry’s most anticipated games. Despite the ridiculous amount of people walking around and through this area, our Rock Band 4 stage was packed with lines throughout all three days!! The Xbox green lighting really set the mood for our show!
Rocking the Freestyle Guitar Solo in the Xbox booth!
The Rock Band 4 Concourse stage!
The main setup during E3 was our full Rock Band 4 band on the outdoor stage. We had full bands performing songs all day between Tuesday and Thursday. The sun was hot and the party never stopped! Check out these awesome pictures from the space!
Check out more live pics on our Rock Band Instagram account!
By the end of the week, Rock Band 4 had been nominated for lots of different awards, including Editor’s Choice from Polygon and Best of E3 from IGN!
The first nomination of the week! Photo courtesy of Mad Catz’s Alex Verrey.
We are honored to hear that both IGN and Game Informer have made Rock Band 4 the winner of Best Music Game at E3 2015!!
The wall of awards by the end of the week!
The biggest surprise came at the very end of our E3 experience. Thursday afternoon, right before the show floor closed for the day, we had a proposal happen right on our Rock Band 4 concourse stage!! Congratulations to the happy rockers!
E3 was a blast for everyone involved in making Rock Band 4 a reality. We were all exhausted by the end of the week, but all smiles on the plane home. One of the best things about E3 is taking all of the feedback we collected from folks playing the game back to the development team. We can't wait to get this game into your hands! Until next time!
The Harmonix staff and our Rock Band 4 E3 awards!