Idea Wiki
Idea Wiki
125,288
pages


Rock Band 5 is an upcoming video game that is the sequel to the 2015 music rhythm game smasher, Rock Band 4. Announced in 2024 and expected to be released in 2025, the game is being developed mainly by Harmonix Music Studios, with the help of Rockstar Games, after both companies made a deal with each other to work on the game. Spotify, the company, served as the music liscence director for the game due to their connections with the music industry, making it easier to get songs for the game. Rock Band 5 will contain a total of 72 on-disc songs. All previous peripherals are back again for the game, and the keyboard (introduced in Rock Band 3) will be present in the game, after its absence in the previous installment of the franchise.



Development

Thought for Rock Band 5 didn't start until late 2019, that's when they started seeking a deal with a bigger video game studio to develop the next Rock Band game. Shortly after Harmonix and Rockstar games started working on the early stages of Rock Band 5, they wanted to look for another company that would help them in licensing songs for the game, making the job for them, easier. MTV denied getting involved after what happened last time with Rock Band 3. But soon, they settled with Spotify. And the game's development went underway.

The idea of the keyboard to return in the series, came from Rockstar Games who had enough of a budget to bring it back, and assigned Razer Inc. to work on making the new instruments for the new game. In 2025, Harmonix, Rockstar Games, Spotify, and Razer Inc. all confirmed that Rock Band 5 is currently in development on their Twitter accounts. As stated by Harmonix community representative Jon "Ohsnapitsjf" Harmonics, the game is currently in development, and it is unknown as of yet, as to when it'll be released.

Gameplay

Rock Band 5 allows for 1–7 players, either locally or through online game services, to use various instrument controllers to accurately simulate the playing of music. In addition to supporting the four Basic instrument controllers from previous Rock Band games (lead guitar, bass guitar, drums and vocals), Rock Band 5 adds support for two additional microphones for singers to provide backup vocal harmonies (previously found in The Beatles: Rock Band and Green Day: Rock Band), an electric keyboard as a re-introduced instrument (or any MIDI-compatible keyboard). The game also works for MIDI compatible electronic drum kits as well.

Prior to a song, each band member selects from one of four difficulty levels, Easy, Medium, Hard, and Expert, which influence the number and rate that notes appear on the note track; they also can select the Pro mode for real guitar, bass, keyboards, and drums. As the band performs, they score points. Each player can build up a multiplier by hitting consecutive notes correctly, which increases how many points each note is worth, but the multiplier is set back to 1× if a note is missed. After successfully completing a song, the performance of each player and the band as a whole is rated on a 5-star scale. The best performance by a player for each song in the player's library is tracked separately based on instrument, Basic or Pro mode, and difficulty, then is used to provide and compare leaderboard statistics at the end of the song.[4]

The overall goal of the band is to successfully complete a song and earn as many points as possible by using their selected controllers to play the notes shown on the screen at the proper time; or, in the case of the vocalists, to sing in relative pitch to the original artist. Players can also gain additional points by using "Overdrive". Once a player has enough energy, which is collected by perfectly playing marked sections of the song, he or she can activate Overdrive to double the number of points the whole band earns while it is deployed. Each instrument deploys overdrive differently, and some instruments have multiple methods of activating it.

In point competitive mode (without the "no-fail" option on — not recommended for Pro mode), players who are doing poorly might be forced to drop out of the band, which silences their part temporarily while the rest of the players continue to play. A dropped player can be saved up to two times by another player activating Overdrive; if the player is not saved soon enough, the whole band may fail the song and need to restart or exit to the song library. In some game modes, an option is also available to continue the song right from where the band failed at the cost of not being able to record a score for the rest of the song's playthrough.

Although Rock Band 5's gameplay in Basic mode is very similar to that of previous games in the series, it does introduce a new gameplay mechanic designed to make fast sections such as trills, tremolo picking, and drum rolls easier to play. In such sections, players are rewarded for being exactly on cue, but they are not penalized for small differences.[5]

New Gameplay Feature

Rock Band 5 offers a new gameplay mode: Multiplayer (Scene): This is the bread and butter of the game. Here players will be able to do the following, they will pick where ever they want to start their band and be able to build venues (House, Bar, Theater, Arena). They will also be able to make a local scene with their friends’ bands. As well as to book tours through out other scenes. Play with your friends bands on shows and their venues. If you are by yourself, be someone to get payed to fill in for someone’s band. If the RBN could come back even start a label and put your own band in the game.

Song List

Decade Song title Artist Level
2000s "Change (In The House of Flies)" Deftones Level 4: Toronto, Canada
2000s "Bounce" System of a Down Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
1980s "De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da" The Police Level 1: Little Rock, Arkansas
1990s "Father of Mine" Everclear Level 5: New York City, USA
2010s "This Ladder Is Ours" The Joy Formidable Level 5: New York City, USA
2010s "Do I Wanna Know?" Arctic Monkeys Level 3: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
2000s "You're the One" The Black Keys Level 1: Little Rock, Arkansas
2010s "Megitsune" Babymetal Level 8: Uluru, Australia
1990s "Bittersweet Symphony" The Verve Level 2: London, England
1960s "You Really Got Me" The Kinks Level 2: London, England
1960s "I Can't Explain" The Who Level 3: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
2010s "My Name Is Human" Highly Suspect Level 4: Toronto, Canada
1960s "For Your Love" The Yardbirds Level 1: Little Rock, Arkansas
2010s "The Last Garrison" Enter Shikari Level 6: Las Vegas, USA
2000s "You're Not Here" Akira Yamaoka ft. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn Level 6: Las Vegas, USA
1980s "Sirius/Eye In The Sky" The Alan Parsons Project Level 8: Uluru, Australia
2010s "Hard Times" Paramore Level 1: Little Rock, Arkansas
2010s "Soundcheck" Catfish and The Bottlemen Level 6: Las Vegas, USA
1980s "Let's Go All The Way" Sly Fox Level 3: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
1980s "Fascination Street" The Cure Level 4: Toronto, Canada
2000s "Temple From Within" Killswitch Engage Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
2000s "Fast Fuse" Kasabian Level 6: Las Vegas, USA
2010s "Broken Bones" CRX Level 5: New York City, USA
2000s "Time Is Running Out" Muse Level 5: New York City, USA
2010s "Kiss This" The Struts Level 2: London, England
1980s "Mother" Danzig Level 4: Toronto, Canada
1970s "If You Want Blood (You've Got It)" AC/DC Level 8: Uluru, Australia
1970s "Starrider" Foreigner Level 2: London, England
2010s "Elephant" Tame Impala Level 8: Uluru, Australia
2010s "Brazil" Declan McKenna Level 1: Little Rock, Arkansas
1980s "Come On Feel The Noize" Quiet Riot Level 3: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
2010s "Circus For A Psycho" Skillet Level 8: Uluru, Australia
2010s "Out Of The Black" Royal Blood Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
2000s "Obstacle 1" Interpol Level 3: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
1980s "Ride Like The Wind" Christopher Cross Level 3: Galápagos Islands, Ecuador
2010s "Trip Switch" Nothing But Thieves Level 5: New York City, USA
2000s "No Cars Go" Arcade Fire Level 2: London, England
1970s "A Horse With No Name" America Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
1990s "My Favorite Game" The Cardigans Level 4: Toronto, Canada
2010s "This Is The Time (Ballast)" Nothing More Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
1990s "Novocaine for the Soul" Eels Level 1: Little Rock, Arkansas
1980s "Only Time Will Tell" Asia Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
1970s "Another Girl, Another Planet" The Only Ones Level 2: London, England
1990s "She's So High" Tal Bachman Level 4: Toronto, Canada
2000s "Divinations" Mastodon Level 8: Uluru, Australia
1980s "I Am The Law" Anthrax Level 6: Las Vegas, USA
1990s "We're In This Together" Nine Inch Nails Level 5: New York City, USA
1990s "Mirror Mirror" Blind Guardian Level 8: Uluru, Australia
1980s "You Might Think" The Cars Level 5: New York City, USA
2000s "Hoppipolla" Sigur Ros Level 7: Reykjavik, Iceland
1960s "Time Of The Season" The Zombies Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
1980s "Mr. Roboto" Styx Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
2000s "My Plague" Slipknot Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
1970s "Cat's In The Cradle" Harry Chapin Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
1990s "Ordinary World" Duran Duran Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
1970s "The Chain" Fleetwood Mac Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
1970s "Looking For The Magic" Dwight Twilley Band Bonus Level: The Moon, Outer Space
1980s "Pale Shelter" Tears For Fears Unlockable Song
2000s "Rockin The Suburbs" Ben Folds Unlockable Song
1980s: "In My Darkest Hour" Megadeath Unlockable Song
1990s "She Don't Use Jelly" The Flaming Lips Unlockable Song
2000s "Blow Me Away" Breaking Benjamin Unlockable Song
1970s "God Save The Queen" The Sex Pistols Unlockable Song
2010s "Carnivore" Starset Unlockable Song
1980s "Do You Remember Rock and Roll Radio?" Ramones Unlockable Song
1990s ”Pennyroyal Tea" Nirvana Unlockable Song
1970s ”Fox On The Run" Sweet Unlockable Song
1980s ”Turn Up The Radio" Autograph Unlockable Song
2000s ”Hate To Say I Told You So" The Hives Unlockable Song
1980s ”Who Can It Be Now" Men At Work Unlockable Song
1970s ”Hell Bent For Leather" Judas Priest Unlockable Song
1990s ”The Unforgiven" Metallica In-Game Secret Song

Categories

Early Reception

According to IGN, who were invited by the developers of Rock Band 5, privately, to test the game in its' beta stages, it is like no other music rhythm video game out there, it stole all of their wallets, called them "sissy boys", and made them transform into their fursonas. Like no other music rhythm video game out there.