Publisher EA previously announced that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 editions would arrive in North America on November 20, with the PlayStation 2 version following on December 18. The November 20 launch of Rock Band in the United States is not affected by this news.

No reason for the delay was provided, though a Harmonix representative previously told bits bytes pixels & sprites that need for bilingual documentation in Canada could slightly delay the game. Conspiracy theorists, meanwhile, speculate the delay may result from EA's anticipated problems meeting the Rock Band demand.