The Rock Band games will continue to feature Fender musical instruments, thanks to an extension of the deal between Fender and Rock Band developer Harmonix, the companies announced today.
Fender guitars, basses and amps have appeared in Rock Band titles since the series' inception in 2007. The new deal between Harmonix and Fender will run for the next decade; it is scheduled to end in 2027.
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"We are pleased to continue our successful relationship with Harmonix," said Mark Van Vleet, senior vice president of business development and chief legal officer at Fender, in a press release. "Harmonix continues to impress us with their attention to detail and precision in faithfully recreating our classic instruments."
"I'm thrilled that [Fender will] continue to be a part of Rock Band well into our next decade," said Steve Janiak, CEO of Harmonix.
Harmonix also released a teaser video today for what looks like a new guitar controller for Rock Band 4. The instrument appears to be modeled after a Fender Stratocaster, perhaps in the "ocean blue metallic" color, albeit with a black pickguard instead of the traditional white.
In March, Harmonix ditched its existing co-publisher for Rock Band 4, the financially beleaguered Mad Catz, and signed a new agreement with Performance Designed Products. At the time, Harmonix said that it would work with PDP to create new Rock Band controllers that would be released this fall, alongside a "major Rock Band 4 feature update." This is presumably one of those instruments, and we expect to hear more at E3 later this month, along with details on the upcoming addition of online multiplayer.
