Rock Band 3 breaking annual release cycle

Due at least in part to developing a Beatles-themed music game (and building a Fort Knox-style complex to house money raked in from said game), Harmonix will not release a Rock Band game in 2009. That word came from Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopolous during an interview at Billboard’s “Digital Music Live” conference session at the International Consumer Electronics Show 2009 in Las Vegas, CA (USA).

The Harmonix co-founder said being married to an annual release cycle limits a developer’s choices. He also said EA totally understands and isn’t pushing Harmonix to crank out a sequel. This decision also makes sure EA won’t release two music games that could cannibalize each others’ sales during the potentially lucrative holiday season of 2009. Instead, they could release the blockbuster Beatles game this year and still have Rock Band 3 available in 2010.

Rigopolous also talks about what he would like to do now that Harmonix has locked up the Beatles license. Next up, if he has his way, could be the music of supergroup Led Zeppelin.

That would be a natural evolution for the music game genre. So far Aerosmith, Metallica and the estate of Jimi Hendrix have all come to the table for their share of a booming game segment. Analysts estimate music games raked in more than $1 billion in 2008. Recording artists are now seeing the power of the games in getting their music into the hands of young customers. Tim Riley, vice president of music affairs at Activision Blizzard, said Aerosmith’s “Same Old Song and Dance” saw a 446 percent jump in iTunes downloads after it appeared in Guitar Hero 3. That song is more than three decades old and its unexpected comeback shows the opportunity music games can grant recording artists.

If relatively obscure Aerosmith songs can take off thanks to inclusion in a game, a Beatles-themed effort will surely be worth the time Harmonix is putting into it.

Read [CrispyGamer] Also Read [GamerBlips]