Representatives for Quazal, a supplier of multiplayer middleware solutions such as Net-Z, Rendez-Vous and Spark!, have announced that Harmonix and MTV Games have selected their technology to power the online component of Rock Band. The game, which ships next week, will offer cooperative 4-player online play, head-to-head battles, online bands and "more leaderboards than you can imagine."

Rock Band will specifically use Quazal's Rendez-Vous technology for lobby and matchmaking services on both Xbox 360 and PS3. The game will also make use of Quazal's Net-Z technology "for enhanced connectivity."

"Having been a fan of Harmonix' titles for years and years now, it's incredible to work directly with them," said Mike Drummelsmith, Developer Relations Manager at Quazal. "Rock Band is ambitious, the userbase is going to be huge, and I look forward to jumping online and rocking out with friends and strangers alike."

"When working with any game of this scale online, there are a million and one different challenges to overcome, on both design and pure technology fronts," said Mike Verrette, Producer at Harmonix. "Working with Quazal to address and solve these challenges lets us know that we'll be delivering an incredible experience to our users this fall, and that we're ready to bear the brunt of the onslaught of online gamers come launch day."