It has emerged that there is a slim chance that gamers’ existing catalogue of Rock Band tracks may work on next-gen consoles, even if they are making a platform holder switch. So Xbox 360 gamers may be able to use their tracks on PS4 and PS3 gamers use them on Xbox One.

Harmonix has already confirmed gamers will be able to use their existing library on the new-gen machines if they stick to the same console family – PS3 to PS4 for example. But for those of you that may have gone from Xbox 360 to PS4, there’s a slight chance your old library could be made compatible too.

When asked about the possibility in an interview with Official PlayStation Magazine UK (Issue 108), Harmonix’s Product Manager, Daniel Sussman said:

“…a lot of that is out of our hands. It depends on first-party tech and policy. I will say that as a player I approve of studios doing whatever they can to be generous with content as it relates to their community. So if you were an Xbox 360 player, I feel for the fact that if you’re a PS4 player now that it would be awesome to migrate your DLC over. That’s something that is largely out of our control but, yeah, I’d love to get there.”

Sounds to us that the main obstacle is Sony and Microsoft allowing Harmonix to do this rather than any sort of technical limitations. It’s great to see Harmonix eager to support it though if given the chance.

At least gamers have the choice here, as the upcoming Guitar Hero Live will not be backwards compatible with any of the back-catalogue thanks to the newly-designed guitar peripheral. Rock Band 4 will feature optional improved instruments, but will still work with older instruments. We imagine they will have to be related to their original console holder too though as even last-gen 360 guitars wouldn’t work on PS3.

What are your thoughts folks? Are you going to wait to see how this story pans out? Which is looking more appealing for you – Rock Band 4 or Guitar Hero Live?