Highlights
- Ubisoft's music/rhythm game Rocksmith 2014, praised for its ability to teach guitar, is being delisted on October 23, mainly due to expiring licensed music rights.
- Current owners can still re-download the game and its DLC, but new customers will no longer have access to the digital version after delisting.
- Fans can explore the newer Rocksmith+ game, a subscription-based live service with over 7,000 songs, available on PC and mobile but not on consoles.
Ubisoft's critically-acclaimed music/rhythm game Rocksmith 2014 is being delisted on October 23. Rocksmith 2014 was the sequel to 2011's Rocksmith and served not only as a music/rhythm game, but a tool to genuinely teach people how to play guitar.
Whereas Guitar Hero used a plastic guitar as a controller, Rocksmith's gimmick is that it uses a real guitar for input. Rocksmith 2014 earned rave reviews from critics at the time of its original release, earning an 84 overall rating and standing tall as one of the highest-rated game releases of 2013. Critics praised the game's ability to be both a fun video game and an educational tool, as well as its impressive song selection.
Unfortunately, it seems as though Rocksmith 2014's licensed soundtrack is the main reason why it's being delisted and pulled from digital storefronts on October 23. Ubisoft's rights to the officially licensed music in Rocksmith 2014 are expiring, hence the need to remove the game from digital storefronts. All Rocksmith 2014 will also be getting removed come October 23, so anyone interested in buying any of that content has less than a month to do so from the time of this writing.
While it's always sad when a video game gets delisted, the bright side is that players can still re-download Rocksmith 2014 and its DLC if they already own it. As usual, the delisting only impacts potential new customers, as they will no longer be able to buy the digital version of the game. Physical versions of Rocksmith 2014 will still be floating around of course, but fans will have no way of getting the DLC after the October 23 delisting.
Something else that may lessen the sting of Rocksmith 2014 getting delisted a bit is the fact that a newer Rocksmith game is readily available for fans to check out right now. Ubisoft released Rocksmith+ in 2022 for PC, with Android and iOS versions following in 2023. Rocksmith+ is a live service game that lets gamers access it in exchange for a subscription fee as opposed to a traditional game purchase. Rocksmith+ hasn't made as big of a splash as Rocksmith 2014, but has been mostly well-received. It doesn't have the same track listing as Rocksmith 2014, but has over 7,000 songs to choose from and should still be a solid tool for anyone looking to learn how to play guitar. The downside is that Rocksmith+ is not currently available on consoles.
Rocksmith 2014 is available for PC, PS3, PS4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.
