It's been amazing to see a revival in guitar controllers for the likes of Rock Band 4 and Fortnite Festival over the past couple of years (we reviewed the Riffmaster and loved it!), and now that revival is extending to drum kits as well!
CRKD, which has just released a Gibson Les Paul guitar controller for Xbox and other platforms, has teased via a new trailer that the drum kit is in development, and it'll be getting a release at some point in 2026.
Here's a bit more information that we received in a press release:
"Driven by the community, no one listens to gamers like the folks at CRKD, constantly striving to innovate and deliver the very best in collectible, quality gaming hardware and the all-new Drum-Kit Controllers will certainly continue the mission to bring the community what they’re craving and bringing the band back together for a whole new era. We can confirm that the new Drum-Kit Controller is currently scheduled to hit in 2026, but other than that, you’ll have to wait a little longer to find out further details, our lips are sealed, but rest assured, we’ll update you with more information when the time is right."
We're assuming the drum kit will work seamlessly with the recently delisted (but still excellent!) Rock Band 4 when it arrives, and if it's anything like the guitar controllers, it'll probably require a little USB wireless adapter to plug into your Xbox console so it can be read by the drums and the system itself.
There are definitely some question marks though - what will the price be, and which games beyond Rock Band 4 will it be compatible with? Fortnite Festival could be a candidate if Epic Games adds support for drum kit controllers in the future, and perhaps Red Octane's mystery rhythm game project will be adding support for it as well.
Maybe it's time for Phil Spencer and his team to think about making a new Guitar Hero game at Xbox...?