Rock Band 4 Project Lead, Daniel Sussman, has recently said that the newest installment of the franchise will not be coming to PC. Why? Well one of the reasons is security. Sussman said that the PS4 and the Xbox One are closed networks. Sony and Microsoft handle anti-piracy measures, and the knowledge of that is important to Harmonix’s music industry partners. There is security in these closed networks, making it harder for players to simply rip songs for free.
That being said, Harmonix notes that it is not an unsurmountable problem, just not one they are looking for a solution for right now.
“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.”
Sussman went on to say the other big reason that we won’t see a Rock Band 4 PC release is because the library of songs on the PSN and Xbox 360 isn’t there. Rock Band 4 console buyers are going to be buying into a huge library of Rock Band songs, but PC buyers would need to be introduced to the content for the first time. As a result, they won’t be getting as many return buyers as they would otherwise with a PC version.
Source: Gamespot