In a report on USA Today Harmonix co-founder Alex Rigopolus said Rock Band, which is distributed by EA, "takes the core premise of Guitar Hero and expands it tenfold... It lets you create a complete collaborative band."

Develop reports that Key to the gameplay is online collaboration, with players globally teaming up play songs together, while online transactions will be added to the game as well. The instruments in the game are guitars (lead and bass), a drum kit and a microphone.

Owner MTV, meanwhile, is supporting the game's production and helping Harmonix form deals with record labels. Rock Band will feature original performances from artists, unlike the soundalikes found in many other music games.

Harmonix created Guitar Hero, which used a guitar-shaped peripheral, plus Frequency, Amplitude and EyeToy: AntiGrav.