When Mad Catz re-releases Rock Band 3 this holiday, it'll be acting as sole financier on the Xbox 360-only publishing deal."They're actually doing the retail distribution as well as marketing support, etc. They're acting as de facto publisher for the title," Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos explained to me in an interview session late last week at the Tokyo Game Show.
That makes Rock Band 3 one of the first retail Xbox 360 game to be published by Mad Catz, a long-time peripheral manufacturer who is now getting into publishing on Microsoft's console. The company's second title, appropriately named War Wings: Hell Catz, is due to arrive on PCs some time in 2012. It has yet to be announced for the Xbox 360. Additionally, Mad Catz has a rugby title due out later this year.
Rigopulos also noted that the relaunch is aimed at a variety of people, from new audiences who haven't ever played a Rock Band title, to "people who are still playing Rock Band 2 or Guitar Hero players who haven't even entered the genre yet." Rock Band 3 will relaunch with Mad Catz branding and peripherals for the Xbox 360 some time this holiday season.