Nine new songs will be added to the Rock Band 4 DLC music library this month. The first two songs will first be playable at the Rock Band booth (#1713) at PAX West and become available for purchase on both Xbox One and PlayStation®4 Tuesday, September 6 for $1.99 per track:

• Five Finger Death Punch – “Wrong Side Of Heaven”
• Good Charlotte – “Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous”

Other artists set to join Rock Band in September are listed below, with specific tracks and additional artists to be announced and made available throughout the month:

• Disturbed
• Fitz and the Tantrums
• Jason Aldean
• Sister Hazel

Marking the much-anticipated return of online play to Rock Band, Rivals mode also represents the most dramatic shift to the Rock Band meta game since the franchise’s introduction in 2007. In Rivals Mode, players band together to form crews of up to ten people to take on other crews around the world in a structured and ongoing series of uniquely themed gameplay challenges. At the beginning of each challenge, crews will be assigned to one of six tiers. When a challenge ends, the best crews will ascend to a new tier, while underperforming crews will face demotion. As crews get promoted they’ll earn badges and face stiffer competition in their quest to earn their place amongst the elite in the highest tier - Bloodstone.

Rock Band Rivals challenges are made up of two distinct gameplay elements - Weekly Challenge Songs and Spotlight Songs. Crews looking to climb the leaderboard will need to focus on both if they want to succeed. Performance in weekly challenges is determined by the overall score earned by all crew members while playing qualifying songs. For example, in the challenge “I Want to Know What Love Is,” playing songs and artists with the word “love” in them will contribute to your crew’s Rivals score for the week. Spotlight Songs are an opportunity for Rock Band’s best players to show their stuff. Here, a crew’s Rivals score is determined by the single best performance achieved by the crew as a whole for each instrument. Balanced crews featuring elite singers, guitarists, bassists and drummers will have an advantage.

Rock Band Rivals will also introduce the first mobile companion app in Rock Band history. With the free Rock Band Rivals Companion App, players will be able to coordinate with their crews no matter where they are. Within the app players can access details about the weekly challenge, manage their crew roster, message other members of their crew and monitor their crew’s progress during weekly challenges.

“Rivals mode is our first step towards bringing the incredibly fun experience of playing Rock Band back online,” said Daniel Sussman, Rock Band product manager. “One of the best things about it is that crew members get to experience the camaraderie of playing together without any of the logistical challenges traditionally associated with synchronous online play: schedules, DLC compatibility and instrument selection. It’s an extremely flexible and rewarding way to play.”