Compilation of questions answered by HMX (indexed)

[Sayburr]

Q: So, with the release of disc songs as DLC, is this the countdown to the end?

A: HMXHenry said, … some people felt like the [legacy songs] sale was a countdown to the end, and that Blitz was a countdown to the end, and that no RB4 [in 2011/12] was a countdown to the end, and that no Pro hardware was a countdown to the end, and that no Beatles export was a countdown to the end, etc. Some people have been wringing their hands about "the end" for the last 3 years. Let them, it just means they're the ones having less fun.

We're not putting this out because we're starved for content and there's nothing in the pipeline. If people want to worry that the end is nigh because we're putting out DLC from [the] highly requested band, [Green Day], that has sold 65 million records, let them. We still have DLC lined up for months and we're still supporting Blitz, the game we just released a few weeks ago.

[Fullbrook]

[edit]

[CaptSlow]

"We still have DLC lined up for months."

What he didn't tell you is that:
1. The DLC that was lined up for months was all that would ever be lined up forevermore.
2. That half of that DLC would be previously released songs from Blitz, a game they had just released.

Those were big words, and a big defense of the Rock Band brand. They seem rather hollow today. There obviously will never be a Rock Band 4, there will never be any more instruments made for Rock Band, and unless you are specifically on an Xbox, you will never get another new song after April (even xBox owners will be limited to RBN content that makes it out before either Harmonix or MSFT pulls the plug on that arrangement).
The gig is up, kids. The band has broken up and there won't be any reuinion tours. Time to move on to either Rocksmith or creating real music with real instruments. Thus, it's not the end of the world but the beginning of a far more rewarding journey. See you on the other side...

[DavidTLynchEsq]

That quote was from September. The Blitz re-releases didn't start until late December, only a few weeks before they first hinted that the end was near.

[Hetz]

Yeah, that quote looks pretty bad now. It clearly implies that there is lots left in the tank, while a couple of months later.....the Blitz re-releases started.

[Bront20]

It's possible the decision wasn't final till they announced it. A "let's see how this goes" turns into "things aren't changing".

[FujiSkunk]

It's possible the decision wasn't final till they announced it. A "let's see how this goes" turns into "things aren't changing".

Also, September puts it six months before now, which Henry has told us is usually how far out they had DLC planned anyway. I don't doubt there were already rumblings within Harmonix at that point about how DLC may be coming to a close, but given what we know, it's entirely possible no actual preparation for "The End" had taken place when Henry made that statement.

[hmxhenry]

There obviously will never be a Rock Band 4, there will never be any more instruments made for Rock Band, and unless you are specifically on an Xbox, you will never get another new song after April.

If you choose to ignore everything we've said about the possibility of more additional content under the right circumstances in the future, then that's entirely up to you. I think the part of my quote that you may have missed is still fitting:

Some people have been wringing their hands about "the end" for the last 3 years. Let them, it just means they're the ones having less fun.

This is the end of weekly DLC, not the end of Rock Band. That doesn't mean no more DLC ever, that doesn't mean we're shutting off servers or closing up the store, and it doesn't mean you can't continue to play the game. The only person that can kill it for you is you.

Yeah, that quote looks pretty bad now. It clearly implies that there is lots left in the tank, while a couple of months later.....the Blitz re-releases started.

That post is from September 21st, 2012. Since then, there have been another 6 months of regular weekly updates, which has added another 132 tracks from 54 different bands to the game. That number includes the release of GD:RB and RB Blitz tracks as DLC, but it also includes the addition of 23 bands that had never previously appeared in RB, including Aerosmith, Sublime, Dave Matthews Band, and 311, as well as the return of some hugely requested bands like Elton John, Chicago, Allman Bros, The Band, Nine Inch Nails, My Chemical Romance, and more. That also includes the addition of 25 Pro guitar upgrades, Green Day album offers that were never available outside the disc, and Blitz singles that were hitting the Wii for the very first time.

Not only do I think that constitutes "lots left in the tank", but it's an absolutely astonishing amount of content held up to literally any other game. If you're beef is that were was only another six months of weekly DLC after that post, or if your beef is that there was only as much DLC in that time as there were tracks on the RB1 and RB2 discs combined, then I doubt anything I could say would convince you that, yes, that is A LOT of content.

Also, September puts it six months before now, which Henry has told us is usually how far out they had DLC planned anyway. I don't doubt there were already rumblings within Harmonix at that point about how DLC may be coming to a close, but given what we know, it's entirely possible no actual preparation for "The End" had taken place when Henry made that statement.

Sunsetting the weekly DLC is something that has been coming up in conversation for quite some time. When I made that post in September about how we had DLC lined up for months (half a year, in fact) we didn't have a set end date. As we got closer to the end of the year, we actually pushed to continue DLC for as long as possible. One possible scenario had us doubling up Blitz tracks and new singles each week, which would have meant DLC ending closer to January. We wanted to make sure that the new releases went on for as long as possible AND ensure that we were able to give the community as much advance notice as possible.

In September we DID have months worth of content lined up. 6 months, as it turns out. And we announced the wind down of DLC on January 2nd, and confirmed the end of weekly DLC in an announcement on February 18th, over 6 weeks in advance of the final release. I don't think anything I've said has been false or misleading, and we've done everything we can to make sure that this transition is as smooth as possible for the community still supporting weekly DLC.

[BachiG]

First off Henry, how's your Nanna doing? I hope she's not taking the news as hard as "some" posters in here.

Now for a more legit question that maybe you can answer here or at your PAX panel ...(btw, where is the thread for submitting other than the obvious question for that panel?)... (That's not the legit question)...

Here goes: Was Blitz, in general, along with things like the dashboard and facebook apps (with the artist request point system), the final straws in trying to get interest in the DLC back up to more "profitable" levels in order to continue at it; and when the interest just didn't grow as hoped, it was determined to finally pull the plug? ...or were the new secret projects HMX is working on the driving force for ending the DLC, period, and it wouldn't have mattered how much new interest was raised or how well DLC was selling, it was just time to reallocate resources and move on?

[hmxhenry]

First off Henry, how's your Nanna doing? I hope she's not taking the news as hard as "some" posters in here.

She's fine, thanks for asking.

Now for a more legit question that maybe you can answer here or at your PAX panel ...(btw, where is the thread for submitting other than the obvious question for that panel?)... (That's not the legit question)...

That thread is coming shortly. Penny Arcade just made the schedule public yesterday and we should have a round up of all HMX events by the end of the day tomorrow.

Here goes: Was Blitz, in general, along with things like the dashboard and facebook apps (with the artist request point system), the final straws in trying to get interest in the DLC back up to more "profitable" levels in order to continue at it; and when the interest just didn't grow as hoped, it was determined to finally pull the plug? ...or were the new secret projects HMX is working on the driving force for ending the DLC, period, and it wouldn't have mattered how much new interest was raised or how well DLC was selling, it was just time to reallocate resources and move on?

Without getting into sales specifics, the short answer is that it's time for us to work on other stuff. DLC is still selling, both new content and the library of 4,000+ previous releases, but Harmonix is a gaming studio, not just a Rock Band studio.

We had been working exclusive on RB, or other peripheral based guitar games, for almost 7 years before releasing Dance Central. Working on something new and exciting was invigorating for us as a studio and refreshing for a ton of the devs here. As we continue to branch out and develop new and different things internally, people are really charged up. There are some people here that have only ever worked on venue lighting, or lip sync animations, or charting bass tracks. I think it's just time for us to branch out and continue to evolve as a studio. If we had never pushed ourselves, we never would have released RB in the first place.