Rock Band Network Shutting Down After Four Years and Over 2,000 Songs

The Rock Band Network, a platform launched in 2010 that allowed fans, artists, and even record labels to release music for Rock Band games, is shutting down. Developer Harmonix announced the news in a forum posting this week.

"After four years, 2,121 songs, and countless hours of investment from some of the most talented and passionate Rock Band fans around, it's time for the sun to (officially) set on Rock Band Network," Harmonix wrote.

The company went on to say that when it originally launched the Rock Band Network it "had no idea" that the platform would take off in the way that it did. "Even if we had been able to anticipate the level of enthusiasm, we certainly couldn't have predicted that the RBN authors would generate a body of work that so quickly eclipsed the official Harmonix output," the company said.

In fact, Rock Band Network authors have created 2,121 songs for the platform, which is just slightly above the 2,100 Harmonix-authored songs, which includes disc-based tracks.

So why is Harmonix taking the Rock Band Network down? The company explains that following the end of regular Rock Band DLC in April 2013, the Rock Band Network "has been plagued with technical issues," some of which were server-side problems at Harmonix, while others were "entirely outside of our control."

As a result, Harmonix has decided to instead dedicate its resources to its other in-development titles, including Fantasia: Music Evolved and the new Amplitude. "We're no longer able to operate Rock Band Network with the kind of consistency that it deserves," Harmonix explained.

What this means is Harmonix will no longer accept song submissions or release new content through the Rock Band Network. However, the songs previously released through the Rock Band Network will continue to be offered for sale.

"We are eternally grateful to all the creators, authors, testers, labels, bands, and fans that have supported Rock Band Network since its inception," Harmonix said. "The team here at Harmonix remains committed to exploring opportunities for user-generated content, as well as the ability to personalize your experience with our games. We can only hope that the next time we approach a similar initiative the community is as dedicated and enthusiastic as this community has been."

No new Rock Band games have been announced, but in April, Harmonix's CEO said the company has "grand plans" to revive the franchise for the current-generation of consoles. This may not happen anytime soon, however, as Harmonix made it clear in April that Rock Band 4 was not currently in development.

Eddie Makuch is a news editor at GameSpot, and you can follow him on Twitter @EddieMakuch