Harmonix has announced that the show will not go on for Rock Band Blitz. By August 28, the title will be removed from both the PlayStation and Xbox storefronts. As often happens with video game music licensing agreements, it would appear that Rock Band Blitz as a complete package has reached its expiration date.
It makes sense that the licensing agreement won’t be renewed. Rock Band Blitz launched on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2012. As opposed to other entries in the series, Rock Band Blitz was played with a standard controller. The change significantly lowered the cost and accessibility of the music game to bring new players into the fray. Since the title was never made available on Xbox One or PlayStation 4, it’s doubtful that renewing it would have been in the best financial interest of Harmonix. If you already own Rock Band Blitz, though, rest assured that you can still play and re-download it at any time.
Although the discontinuation of a digital game is never a joyous occasion, Rock Band Blitz‘s exit comes with a silver lining. Provided that you own it, you can transfer all 25 tracks over to Rock Band 4 for no additional charge, meaning that you can play them on Xbox One or PS4 with the guitar controller. To initiate that process, follow the instructions laid out by Harmonix.
Interestingly, all 25 tracks will still be available as standalone DLC purchases until further notice. Individual music licenses don’t always expire at the same time as the entire package. Rock Band Blitz featured a star-studded list of songs by artists such as Soundgarden, Elton John, and Blink-182.
This isn’t the first time Rock Band content has been removed from digital storefronts due to expiring music licenses. In August 2016, eight Red Hot Chili Peppers tracks were removed, and in April 2016, 32 songs by The Beatles disappeared.
In fact, the expiration of music license agreements frequently affects the availability of video games. In May, the beloved adventure game Alan Wake was removed indefinitely from Steam for the same reason. And just last month, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD performed its last Kickflip on Steam as well.
Harmonix is currently hard at work on Dropmix, a music-mixing and competitive card-battling game set to launch later this year.
