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Harmonix Provides Update On Rock Band 3 Soundtrack Export For Rock Band 4
Perhaps the biggest selling point of Rock Band 4 is that it allows you to carry forward the vast majority of your music library from previous entries through backward compatible DLC. Sadly, none of the on-disc soundtracks from previous games were exportable to Rock Band 4 at launch. Harmonix has continually said that it is working on the exports for all games prior to Rock Band 3, and that it was looking into the possibility of exporting Rock Band 3's soundtrack to Rock Band 4. Today, Harmonix provided a big update for fans of the series.
According to a blog post by Rock Band 4 product manager Daniel Sussman, Harmonix is shooting to have Rock Band 3's soundtrack exportable to Rock Band 4 on December 8 alongside the feature update scheduled for that time. Unfortunately, Sussman says that Harmonix's ability to sell Rock Band 3 is coming to an end soon, so in order to qualify for the export, you'll need to buy Rock Band 3 digitally before it's removed on October 30, or physically from a retailer before their stock runs out for good. Though Harmonix's ability to sell Rock Band 3 is coming to an end, Sussman says the Rock Band 3 export offer will be available for the "foreseeable future" and that Harmonix will let players know well in advance of its expiration.
The Rock Band 3 export will cost you $14.99. The export offer will only be extended to those who are verified purchasers of Rock Band 3, meaning that Harmonix will need to verify your purchase electronically using data from your online profile. In the post, Harmonix says that the export offer will only work for those who "bought a new copy and played Rock Band 3." As with all DLC, the exports will only work within the same console family, meaning PlayStation 3 exports will only work for PlayStation 4, and Xbox 360 exports will only work for Xbox One.
Harmonix was unable to provide an update on the exports of other games, but they did provide a chart to show what offers have expired (meaning that you'll only be able to export them to Rock Band 4 if you had previously exported them into Rock Band 3), and which ones are still valid. It sounds as though in order to get those legacy soundtracks to work with Rock Band 4, you'll need to first export them into Rock Band 3 and will not be able to export them directly into Rock Band 4. You can check out the full compatibility chart (as well as some FAQs) below.
Rock Band 4 released on October 6 to positive reviews. If you'd like to see what our very own Matt Miller thought, you can head to his review. If you're more interested in the soundtrack on Rock Band 4's disc, you can check that out here.
[Source: Harmonix]
Our Take
The sooner Harmonix can get these exports to players, the better. It's a shame that they weren't ready for launch, but with such a robust library of both new and back catalog tracks, I haven't missed the songs from previous games all that much. Still, with many of the best songs in the series appearing on the discs through the years, it's necessary if Harmonix is marketing Rock Band 4 as having your complete music library. Also, as Harmonix points out in the blog post, "Free Bird" with Rock Band 4's Freestyle Guitar Solos turned on sounds amazing.
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