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'Rock Band 4' will be co-published by hardware company Mad Catz

Rock Band creator Harmonix is bringing a roadie along for this year's release of Rock Band 4 -- Mad Catz, the peripheral manufacturer, will co-publish the game on Xbox One and PlayStation 4. Mad Catz is in charge of making all of the wireless instruments in Rock Band 4, but as a co-publisher the company will also lead global sales, promotions and distribution, Global PR Director Alex Verrey says. Harmonix and Mad Catz intend to release Rock Band 4 simultaneously in the US and European territories, Harmonix PR Lead Nick Chester tweeted to a curious fan today.

Harmonix and Mad Catz still hope to make the instruments from previous Rock Band games compatible with Rock Band 4. "We are working on that; we will confirm when we can!" Chester writes. In March, when Harmonix announced the new Rock Band, CEO Alex Rigopulos said he was "working very closely with Sony and Microsoft" to make backwards compatibility a reality. Using old guitars and drums could save fans some money (if they can dig those instruments out from the back of their closets), and Rigopulos added that Harmonix probably won't even launch a new, full-priced game every year.

"In addition to DLC expansions, we're thinking of Rock Band 4 more as an ongoing platform model where it can incrementally accrete new functionality over time instead of doing big $60 title releases."