Rocksmith

About Rocksmith

Rocksmith is a single player and multiplayer casual simulation game. It was developed by Ubisoft San Francisco and was released on June 6, 2024. It received negative reviews from players.

Learn by playing along to your favorite songs featuring real time feedback, customizable pace, and a vast, ever-expanding song library of official recordings all designed to help you express your creativity.

Genres & Tags

Play Modes

Skip Games Like Rocksmith

Looking for games like Rocksmith? Here are top casual simulation recommendations, selected from player-similarity data — start with Rocksmith 2014 Edition - Remastered, Rocksmith or Might & Magic Heroes VI.

88%9.6kreviews

Rocksmith 2014 Edition - Remastered

2016

Casual Simulation

86%868reviews

Rocksmith

2012

Casual Simulation

50%4.2kreviews

Might & Magic Heroes VI

2011

Tactical Role Playing

63%1.6kreviews

Trials Rising

2019

Arcade Platformer

+10

40%4.1kreviews

WWE 2K20

2019

Casual Sport

72%25kreviews

Street Fighter V

2016

Casual Sport

78%9.2kreviews

The Crew Motorfest

2023

Open World Racing

+11

52%3.8kreviews

Blood Bowl 3

2022

Role Playing

61%1kreviews

Tabletopia

2016

Casual Role Playing

47%11.4kreviews

Catan Universe

2017

Casual Strategy

More games like Rocksmith

Skip User Reviews

Reviews

19%Audience ScoreBased on 1,383 reviews

music98 positive mentions

stability45 negative mentions

Improved note detection compared to Rocksmith 2014.
Large and growing song library across multiple genres.
Supports guitar, bass, and piano with various learning tools and lessons.
Enables practice with real-time feedback and adaptive difficulty.
Cross-platform play with synchronization of progress.
Includes pitch shifting and a tablature view option.

Subscription model is expensive and disliked, with no option for one-time purchase.
Poor and cluttered user interface making navigation difficult.
Many songs from older versions missing; limited popular tracks and many filler songs.
Frequent server disconnections cause game interruptions and frustration.
Lack of offline mode and local multiplayer present in previous versions.
Audio issues and setup difficulties with common audio interfaces.
Removal of beloved game modes and mini-games from previous versions.
No support for custom songs or community content like Rocksmith 2014.

music
1,084 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
9% positive mentions, 84% neutral mentions, 7% negative mentions
The music in Rocksmith+ offers a large and varied library with thousands of songs across genres, including bass, guitar, and piano arrangements, and new songs are regularly added. However, the selection is often criticized for lacking many iconic tracks, featuring numerous obscure or cover versions, and having regional and licensing restrictions that limit availability. Additionally, the subscription model charging around $20/month to access most songs, paired with a frustrating and slow UI and frequent server connectivity issues, detracts from the overall experience for many users.
- “The customization on how you play, how the interface looks, how the game challenges you, the song selection, and even the instrument are enough to make this new member of the franchise shine.”
- “Rocksmith+ expands the song options with streaming, offering a varied catalog where you can learn songs for guitar, bass, and piano with features like tab and sheet music view, dynamic difficulty, and an improved riff repeater.”
- “Despite the challenges with licensing, the full library access allows for cool song discoveries, direct access to new songs added without extra cost, and includes noteworthy covers and full albums for various artists.”
- “I gave up when browsing through the songs because the game can't keep up with previewing the song's audio; it keeps reverting back to some pointless backing track instead of previewing the selected song, and the tremolo rock music fades in and out annoyingly.”
- “The subscription fee is expensive, especially considering how rarely new songs of interest are added, and many popular songs from previous versions are missing, forcing players to pay a high monthly cost for a sparse and rotating song library.”
- “The song selection is abysmal compared to Rocksmith 2014, with many songs being covers rather than originals, a heavy focus on unknown or Hispanic artists, and an excessive amount of songs locked behind a costly $20 monthly subscription paywall.”
stability
45 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
The game suffers from severe stability issues, including frequent crashes, freezes, and audio glitches that require extensive troubleshooting to resolve. Users report persistent bugs across platforms, problematic connectivity, and poor support, making it frustrating and often unplayable despite ongoing efforts. Overall, stability problems greatly hinder the gameplay experience and value.
- “This is pure buggy slop, I don't understand how this unplayable thing is even on Steam anymore.”
- “Instead of focusing on actually learning or playing, I spend most of my time troubleshooting connection and login problems.”
- “Game requires lots of try and error troubleshooting to work to the point that it ain't worth anyone's time, and when it works, it just doesn't because then you gotta troubleshoot the input/output audio errors.”
monetization
42 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
5% positive mentions, 19% neutral mentions, 76% negative mentions
Users overwhelmingly criticize Rocksmith+'s monetization as a blatant, overpriced cash grab, highlighting the mandatory subscription model priced around $140 per year, which restricts access to most content and lacks fair refund options. Many prefer the older Rocksmith 2014's permanent DLC purchases over the current expensive and restrictive subscription service, which is also plagued by technical issues and a cluttered interface. Overall, the monetization approach is deemed predatory, frustrating, and detrimental to the game's value.
- “The official DLC packs for Rocksmith 2014 Remastered cost way more than $20 a month if you're a regular Rocksmith user, and Rocksmith+ has full access to an extensive song library without any microtransactions after subscribing.”
- “But for it to be rated as good from me, the delay issues would have to be solved and the subscription set to about $5, or the subscription model removed entirely and microtransactions introduced with reasonable prices.”
- “The official DLC packs for Rocksmith 2014 Remastered cost way more than $20 a month if you're a regular Rocksmith user, while Rocksmith+ has full access to an extensive song library without any microtransactions after subscribing.”
- “The mandatory subscription model feels like a cash grab, and despite the price, there are still missing features that were available in the older versions.”
- “Since the subscription is considered an in-game purchase, Steam’s refund policy doesn’t support it, leaving users stuck.”
gameplay
23 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
17% positive mentions, 70% neutral mentions, 13% negative mentions
Gameplay in Rocksmith+ is generally solid, responsive, and rewards accuracy, closely resembling previous Rocksmith iterations with precise note detection and intuitive mechanics. However, some users find the exit process cumbersome, the online-only requirement limiting, and occasional technical issues like connection drops and frame rate problems detract from the experience. Overall, it delivers a fun, music-driven gameplay loop especially for those using real instruments, though subscription pricing and technical hiccups may impact enjoyment.
- “Strictly gameplay wise, RS+ feels a bit more responsive and rewards accuracy more than 2014.”
- “The sound engine works great, audio sounds crisp and supports ASIO out of the box, the note detection is more precise and strict, so gameplay is generally great.”
- “Rocksmith+ delivers a Guitar Hero-inspired gameplay, but with a unique twist: you rock out using a real instrument: guitar, bass, or keyboard.”
- “Not one person working there realized that when you want to exit a song you shouldn't have to hit exit 3 times and then have to back out of 4 screens asking you if you're sure you want to exit and recapping the gameplay.”
- “Keeping the game online only actively hurts gameplay.”
- “So whenever you were in game or mid song, an 'error' would pop up, pausing and interrupting the gameplay.”
optimization
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
18% positive mentions, 47% neutral mentions, 35% negative mentions
The app suffers from significant optimization issues, including frequent stuttering, graphics glitches, and unreliable startup, which detract from the overall experience. While the core gameplay concept is solid, poor performance and technical flaws often lead to missed notes and user frustration. These persistent problems undermine the app's potential despite its innovative features.
- “But in terms of performance and ease of use, Rocksmith+ delivers a great experience.”
- “Songs adjust based on your performance, starting with simplified note patterns and gradually increasing in complexity as you improve.”
- “The core system remains the backbone of the experience: you connect a real instrument and play along with on-screen notation as the software tracks your performance.”
- “Overall, the app feels unreliable and poorly optimized.”
- “Sadly, we'll never know: I can't get the game to start reliably, and even then, the stuttering and graphics glitches are more frustration than I can take.”
- “There are performance issues; it will cause you to miss notes.”
graphics
17 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
24% positive mentions, 58% neutral mentions, 18% negative mentions
Reviews of the graphics highlight a mix of praise and criticism: the game offers good and lifelike visuals with strong customization options, but many find the aesthetics uninspiring or overly corporate. Technical issues such as stuttering, glitches, and slow menu loading on high-end hardware detract from the experience, and some feel the graphics are hardly improved from the 2014 version despite the subscription model.
- “Graphically it looks great, and the level of customization for both riff repeater and in-game visual settings is great to see!”
- “Lifelike graphics, intuitive mechanics, it's a rockstar's dream...just without the groupies!”
- “Good graphics, tabs, great song library.”
- “Sadly, we'll never know: I can't get the game to start reliably, and even then, the stuttering and graphics glitches are more frustration than I can take.”
- “That and the game still seems quite buggy, menus don't load after a song, artwork is slow to come in.”
- “I'm not going to shell out money for a game whose graphics settings don't work right and I'm unable to actually get a feeling for the play.”
humor
6 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
The humor in the game is seen as unintentionally funny, with some amusing glitches and quirks noted by players. However, attempts at humor are overshadowed by criticism of the costly subscription and poor user interface, which many find laughably bad.
- “I found it hilarious how there are some fixes like disabling 2 step authenticator, changing your online status to offline, then online again.”
- “"They could have just re-licensed every single song from Rocksmith 2014!" Hilarious.”
- “I played the guitar and bass and funny colors come and go fast.”
grinding
4 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 100% negative mentions
Grinding in this game is widely regarded as tedious and frustrating, especially given the costly subscription model which many feel is not justified for hobbyist players. Technical issues and lack of engaging content add to the slog, making it less enjoyable compared to alternatives that offer more rewarding and fun progression systems.
- “The subscription model this game has is absolutely tedious, and in no way do I feel like this game is anywhere close to being worth $20/month.”
- “No arcade - after playing for 100 days, I now play 2014 more, because it has the arcade, which makes doing those technical exercise grinding more a joy than a slog.”
- “Like people, from what I can tell, they want to learn to play the guitar as a hobby, not a lifestyle or to get a job doing that. If it was like that, then I’d understand the price, but $20 or $140 for the year pass, which is about $12 per month if you pay for the larger amount, isn’t really an option since people are just doing this as a hobby, not a new lifestyle. I don't think anyone would be playing this every day as their main game, grinding to the end unless they were using it to maybe become a musician. Plus, if one looks at the list of songs, there aren’t the best or most interesting to want to learn.”
story
3 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
0% positive mentions, 33% neutral mentions, 67% negative mentions
The game lacks a traditional storyline, which some users view negatively, but others appreciate the focus on daily quests and exploring new songs without narrative distractions.
- “In Ubisoft's eternal quest to ruin every single franchise they have, the turn has finally come to the bottom of the barrel, Rocksmith.”
- “I have no idea how Ubisoft messed this one up, no storyline or anything to worry about.”
replayability
2 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
50% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 50% negative mentions
Replayability is seen as a strong point by some users, adding significant value to the experience; however, there is frustration regarding the requirement of a subscription to access playable songs, which detracts from its overall replay appeal.
- “It also added a bunch of replay value for me personally.”
- “Wait, so literally no songs are playable? I have to pay a subscription... yet Rocksmith 2014 works completely fine.”
emotional
1 mentions Positive Neutral Negative
100% positive mentions, 0% neutral mentions, 0% negative mentions
Users express strong negative emotions, citing frustration and disappointment with the company's treatment of customers, which has led to a lasting loss of support and trust.