Rock Band 4 Isn't Coming to PC In Part Because of Security Concerns

Rock Band 4 will launch later this year for Xbox One and PlayStation 4. A PC edition is not in the works, and now, developer Harmonix has explained why. Project lead Daniel Sussman tells Eurogamer in a new interview that there are a couple reasons why they're skipping a PC release, the first has to do with the series not having much of a footprint on computers to begin with.

"The library is not there on PC," Sussman said, referring to the songs released for previous Rock Band games. "The library is there on Xbox and PlayStation. So, for players who want it on PC, really you're looking at a new audience that hasn't played before, and I don't know to what degree there is an audience for new players who have never played Rock Band before on the PC. That's one piece of it."

Sussman went on to say that another reason Rock Band 4 isn't coming to PC has to do with security concerns, which could be a major issue for a game involving music rights.

"The other piece is all the security issues, to be perfectly frank," Sussman said. "There's something comforting about the closed network that comes along with the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. That's important to our partners in the music industry. Not to say that's an unsolvable problem."

No Rock Band game has ever been released on PC, while some Guitar Hero games were available for PC. Ubisoft's Rocksmith franchise is also available on computers.

Although Harmonix definitely has concerns about bringing Rock Band 4 to PC, the studio hasn't entirely ruled it out. Read Eurogamer's full interview for more on Harmonix's take on PC gaming.

Rock Band 4 launches later this year. For more, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.

Update: Following the publication of this story, a Harmonix representative issued a statement regarding Sussman's comments, specifically his quote about security/piracy concerns. We have updated the story to reflect this statement.

“We're not concerned about software piracy on PC. We have and will release games for PC. In fact, last year we released A City Sleeps for PC, Mac, and Linux. As Daniel stated, the security in question is related to licensed music in the game. PlayStation4 and Xbox One have robust functionality in that area. It's added security that's handled by the platform holders. In the case of more open platforms like PC, we're responsible for that. It's something we can build. It's not off the table for the future, however we're first focusing on delivering Rock Band 4 for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One this holiday."