Rock Band 4 Instruments May Suffer Stock Shortages

Instruments for Harmonix Music Systems' Rock Band 4 may be difficult to acquire when the game is released later this year, according to studio CEO Steve Janiak.

Speaking to IGN, Janiak said "the response to our announcement of Rock Band 4 has been incredible" and has indicated a high level of demand for the upcoming rhythm game.

"Demand from both retailers and consumers for product has exceeded out expectations," explained Janiak, who advised fans to sign up to be alerted when pre-orders go live, which you can do here.

"While we'll do everything we can to meet demand, the realities of manufacturing and getting hardware on shelves means that we can't guarantee hardware for everyone on day one without a pre-order," he continued.

"For those looking for new instruments, pre-ordering ahead of launch will guarantee that you'll be able to start a band and rock the world with your family and friends this holiday season."

Rock Band 4's physical peripherals will be provided by Mad Catz, which has recently enjoyed success creating an official line of arcade sticks for Capcom's fighting games. Currently, only guitars, drums, and microphones are planned for release.

Harmonix has said the team is "working their asses off" to include Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 controller support on the new consoles.

"We are actively engaged with Sony and Microsoft to support PS3 controllers on the PS4 and Xbox 360 controllers on the Xbox One," it said.

"It's tough because a lot of the implementation is out of our control. You're dealing with radio chips and technology that fundamentally changed between one console and the next. There is some policy we need to work through as well as some nifty engineering we have to work through, which we are."

Harmonix officially confirmed Rock Band 4 in March and provided a vague 2015 release window for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.