The day the plastic music died: Epic shutting down Rock Band and other servers

Enlarge / A couple of folks absolutely getting down to Rock Band 2 at that game's 2008 launch party at LA's Orpheum Theatre. (credit: Getty Images)

If you've ever wanted to achieve a five-star Expert rating for Dragonforce's "Through the Fire and Flames," now's the time to grab that track for Rock Band 3. Online stores, DLC, and services for that game and 14 others will shut down on January 24 as Epic Games consolidates its online offerings.

Most notable among the games Epic says have "out-of-date online services and servers" are five Rock Band titles: 1-3, The Beatles, and Green Day. Rock Band's servers have been online since 2007, sending more than 100 million playable versions of over 2,000 songs for people to play on various plastic instruments studded with brightly colored buttons. You'll still be able to play any songs you've downloaded for those titles but no longer be able to connect for new tunes. Those committed to Rock Band 4 can still keep playing online multiplayer, Epic notes.

Another cornerstone of a bygone era, Unreal will lose servers for many of its games. Epic notes that it intends to bring back online features for Unreal Tournament 3, but Gold, II, Tournament 2003 and 2004, and Unreal Tournament: Game of the Year Edition will go dark after the January 24 date.

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