Rock Band 4 Fig campaign raises half its $1.5 million target
"There doesn't seem to be enough of an audience to make Rock Band for PC a viable project for us right now"
An attempt to fund a PC port of Rock Band 4 through Fig has ended in failure, with Harmonix raising just $790,000 of its $1.5 million target.
When GamesIndustry.biz talked to Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos before the Fig campaign started, he gave several reasons for tackling a PC port six months after Rock Band 4's not quite spectacular console launch: first, the Boston-based studio had received enough requests for a PC version from the game's community; second, Steam Workshop offered a platform through which user-generated content would be feasible; third, in Rigopulos' words, "bringing the game to PC will increase the number of players, which will increase the revenue base which we're basically directly reinvesting into Rock Band 4 to improve the experience. It's a live platform and we have great ambitions to evolve it. The bigger the player base the more revenue we can reinvest."
The fact that the project raised little more than half of its $1.5 million target, then, would indicate that the first motive was misjudged, and that the third motive will require a new strategy. In an announcement on Rock Band 4 PC's Fig page, the company said it was "disappointed" with the outcome, particularly as it may preclude the relaunch of the Rock Band Network.
"To be absolutely clear, this campaign has had zero impact on Rock Band 4 development"
However, it also stated its commitment to "supporting and improving" the game's console versions, in response to what seems to be community criticism about how the company has distributed its resources. Following its statement regarding the PC port campaign, Harmonix responded to a handful of statements that represented the tone of the community's feedback. That list included: 'You guys should finish work on RB4 before you start a new project', '1.5million? For a port? That's insane!', and 'How dare you start a new crowdfunding campaign before the Amplitude Kickstarter is complete!'
"To be clear, we raised nearly $800,000 via backers and investors; it's an impressive showing of support from our community and for our brand. But as an independent developer we have to be careful about how much money and development time we risk on a project we're not sure has a big enough audience, and crowdfunding allowed us to... judge the market fit for Rock Band PC.
"We have a large team dedicated to upgrading and improving RB4, and we're releasing free monthly updates, stabilizing the game, and adding features that you've requested. To be absolutely clear, this campaign has had zero impact on Rock Band 4 development."
Harmonix closed by saying that the possibility of a PC version of Rock Band 4 remains open, though the method by which it could happen was not made clear.