Rock Band 4 news and updates: Partnership with PDP after dropping Mad Catz

The game developer of "Rock Band", Harmonix, has announced that they have partnered with a new company, Performance Designed Products (PDP), to help them further develop the latest installment, "Rock Band 4."

When the game was launched, Harmonix partnered with the hardware and peripheral company, Mad Catz. The latter also published the 3rd installment of "Rock Band" in 2011. It is reported that a few of their employees will be laid off following financial issues within the company. Many of their executives have also resigned from their posts after the news broke that the company is having monetary problems.

Despite the decision of Harmonix to break ties with Mad Catz, both companies have agreed that the latter will continue to sell its controllers.

"As we look to fully achieve our goal of creating this console generation's category-defining music gaming platform, we need to partner with a truly world-class manufacturer that can operate at the scale that Rock Band requires," said Steve Janiak, the CEO of Harmonix.

"PDP has a well-deserved reputation for innovation, customer satisfaction, and quality. They have the logistical and technical expertise to support Harmonix's ambitious plans for the future of Rock Band, with new hardware alongside a major Rock Band 4 feature update coming this Fall."

Harmonix is currently on Fig for a crowdfunding mission. The company is trying to raise enough resources to develop a version of "Rock Band 4." Their goal is to reach $1.5 million until April 5. They have already raised more than $300,000 as of this moment.

When questioned if instruments created by Mad Catz for "Rock Band" will work once the PC version comes out, the developer replied in a very positive manner.

"PS4 instruments will work as long as your PC has Bluetooth! Xbox One instruments will likely work as well, but we need to work with Microsoft to ensure they function correctly."