“Lengthy stay rock, be it useless or alive,” the person as soon as mentioned, and for a bit greater than a yr now, Rocksmith 2014 has certainly been useless. However now it is alive once more, and again on Steam in a barely retuned format as Rocksmith 2014 Version Remastered Be taught and Play.
First launched in 2013, Rocksmith 2014 is a bit like Guitar Hero besides it makes use of an actual guitar as a controller, and teaches you to play actual songs. It is fairly good, and amassed a “very constructive” consumer ranking over time on Steam, however in October 2023—its 10th anniversary—Ubisoft eliminated the sport from sale. A motive for the takedown wasn’t supplied on the time, however we suspected expiring licenses had been the trigger, and certain sufficient Ubisoft has now confirmed that was the case.
“In 2023, Rocksmith 2014 Remastered was quickly eliminated because of the expiration of our music licensing offers,” the Steam web page states. “Whereas we imagine Rocksmith+ presents the final word vacation spot for studying guitar, bass and piano with its in depth music catalog, we now have additionally heard the Rocksmith 2014 group’s suggestions. You requested for Rocksmith 2014 Remastered to return, so we did simply that!”
The expired licenses are nonetheless a problem: Whereas the re-released Rocksmith 2014 “is similar to the unique” in performance, all the licensed songs have been changed with “a group of tracks and workouts from our common downloadable content material bundles,” together with:
- Bachsmith and Bachsmith II
- Basic Melody Tune Pack
- Rocksmith Simple Workouts, Vol. 1 & 2
- Rocksmith Intermediate Workouts, Vol. 1 & 2
- Rocksmith Superior Workouts, Vol. 1 & 2
That sounds probably not nice—I wish to rock out with Zeppelin, not “intermediate workouts”—however a mountain of Rocksmith 2014 DLC stays: 1,226 items of it, together with particular person tracks and music packs. In case you already personal the unique Rocksmith 2014, you will not be capable of obtain this version, as a result of in any other case you’d lose entry to the licensed music it comprises.
I feel it’s extremely cool that Rocksmith 2014 is again, and I am unable to assist questioning if Ubisoft’s feedback about Rocksmith+ supply a bit extra perception than meant as to the explanation for the comeback. Rocksmith+ is billed as “the evolution from Rocksmith 2014 Version, which needed to be retired for music licensing necessities,” however full entry to the sport requires a subscription that prices $20 monthly. Including insult to harm, Rocksmith+ shouldn’t be appropriate with Rocksmith 2014 tracks, so any music you purchased for that sport is ineffective with the brand new one. Predictably, Rocksmith+ at the moment bears an “overwhelmingly detrimental” ranking on Steam, and hasn’t had greater than 100 concurrent gamers because the starting of June—a small fraction of Rocksmith 2014’s concurrent participant depend, even post-delisting.
Rocksmith 2014 is not simply again on Steam, it is also on sale for 70% off, that means you possibly can decide it up proper now for simply $3. Lengthy stay Rocksmith 2014.
