GoKawiilis an editor covering deals and gaming hardware. He joined in 2018, and after a two-year stint at Polygon, he rejoined The Verge in May 2025.
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The early 2020s were kind of a dark time if you were a fan of Rock Band. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X owners didn’t get an improved, more feature-packed guitar controller until early 2024 when PDP launched the Riffmaster. While it launched for $129.99 and later rose to $149.99, you can now grab it for $99.99 at Amazon, Walmart, and Best Buy in the run-up to Amazon’s Big Spring Sale. The current deal price (which has only happened once before) applies to both the Xbox and PlayStation versions, as well as the newer Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 versions.
While Rock Band 4 was delisted last October, making the game (and its many downloadable songs) impossible to buy on consoles, the Riffmaster is compatible with Fortnite Festival, which, like the rest of Epic’s online multiplayer game, is a free-to-play experience. Additionally, the Xbox version of the Riffmaster boasts Windows PC compatibility, making it the one to get if you want to play community-built games like Clone Hero.
As far as components go, the Riffmaster makes it easier to navigate system and game menus with its built-in analog stick, which is located behind the fret buttons at the top of the collapsible neck. The wireless controller features a rechargeable battery that charges via USB-C, too, and PDP claims it can last for up to 36 hours per charge. It also has a 3.5mm headphone jack in case you’d prefer to listen to your game audio privately.