The Beatles Rock Band has been a success for Harmonix and MTV Games, with more than 1.7 million units sold worldwide since its September 2009 release and the two companies are set to capitalize on the success of the band-oriented music game concept by putting out Green Day Rock Band, the title announced at the VGA awards, building on the career of one of the biggest acts of the punk rock scene.

But with Rock Band Network oriented more towards music creators than gamers, the two developers must also be working on a new numbered Rock Band release.

Paul DeGooyer, who is the senior vice president of MTV Games, has talked to Newsrama and told them that the Green Day-centered release is “of course not going to be our only game this year” with gamers being right to actually expect something that represents “effectively the next game, or ‘Rock Band 3'.”

This is not quite the confirmation that couch rockers were looking for but it will do for the moment, as Harmonix probably decides whether they need to put their upcoming title on a physical disk or whether they can actually upgrade Rock Band 2 via download.

Dhani Harrison, who has worked with Harmonix on creating The Beatles title, previously hinted that he was continuing his collaboration with the company in order to create a new game that might be used to teach gamers how to play the instrument they are interested in, moving from simulation to education.

It would be a major step for the Rock Band brand and would likely attract even more players to the franchise. It could also be a risky proposition for Harmonix and MTV Games but with Rock Band Green Day providing the steady revenue and with Rock Band 3 delivering the innovation, the two companies might be on to a winning formula.