Though Rock Band 4 is not currently in development, developer Harmonix reminds gamers in a new interview that it controls the future direction of the series by virtue of owning the IP, and teased that the music game franchise will return "when the time is right."

In an interview with Forbes, Harmonix PR boss Nick Chester said he is often asked, "Where is Rock Band 4?" and "When are you bringing it back?" These questions have even come from GameStop managers, he said, which might suggest that, "If people are hearing that at retail, maybe there's something going on. Maybe people are ready for it again."

If Harmonix were to make another Rock Band, fans would certainly hope that their existing Rock Band plastic instruments would be compatible with the new game. Though there could be compatibility issues given the jump from last-generation consoles to current-generation machines, Chester said Harmonix would do "everything in our power" to make it work.

Also in the interview, Chester reveals that "hundreds of thousands" of people still play Rock Band games every month. This is despite the fact that Harmonix has stopped supporting the most recent core game, Rock Band 3, with new DLC and even pulled the plug on the Rock Band Network.

"We love Rock Band, it's in the company's DNA," Chester said. "We own the IP. And when the time's right we will absolutely come back to it. There's a whole bunch of factors to take into consideration before jumping in that pool again, but there's a desire for it, absolutely."

The most recent Rock Band game was Rock Band Blitz, which was released in 2012 for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. At PAX East in April, Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos teased that the studio had "grand plans" to revive the Rock Band series for current-generation consoles. However, the company quickly clarified that it only had ideas for a new game, pointing out that Rock Band 4 was not actually in the works.

For its part, Activision has also talked about bringing the Guitar Hero franchise back someday.

Though Harmonix isn't making a new Rock Band game right away, the studio is certainly keeping busy. Tomorrow, Harmonix will release Fantasia: Music Evolved for Xbox 360 and Xbox One, while the studio continues to work on a new Amplitude game for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4. In addition, Harmonix's free-to-play PC shooter called Chroma remains in development, and the studio recently signed a publishing deal with indie publisher Tilting Point for new, music-based mobile games. On top of that, there is Harmonix VR, a music project for Samsung Gear VR.

What would you like to see from a new Rock Band game? Let us know in the comments.

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