Rock Band VR, one of the biggest exclusive games in the Oculus Rift’s 2017 catalog, is officially being released on March 23rd. Oculus and Rock Band developer Harmonix announced the news this morning and opened preorders, selling the game with a bundled guitar peripheral for $69.99. The guitar is compatible with the PC-based Oculus Rift headset, as well as the 2015 game Rock Band 4 on Xbox One or PlayStation 4, depending on the selected bundle.
Rock Band VR is a fairly major revamp of the popular rhythm game franchise, focusing more on improvisation than precise note-matching. It was announced in late 2015, and Harmonix showed off a prototype in mid-2016, albeit in an early state. Oculus has more details about the finished game online, including a 60-song track list and a “classic mode” that brings back the original game’s note highway. In addition to a headset and Rift-compatible PC, players will need the Oculus Touch motion controllers, which bring the game’s plastic guitar into virtual reality — players fix one of them to the guitar with a small connector, which is included with all Touch units.
Last year, Harmonix made a point of telling us Rock Band VR would be backwards-compatible with older hardware, since the VR market is still pretty small for a dedicated peripheral. We’ve asked Oculus if Rock Band 4 owners can buy it without the bundled guitar, but either way, it’s good news to finally see a release date for this high-profile Rift title.