Rockbeasts is a narrative band management RPG where you steer an indie rock group of anthropomorphic animals from garage rehearsals toward sold-out stages. It pairs calendar-based planning and venue booking with rhythm performances on guitar, drums, and vocals, all set against the music industry of July 1993. Developer Licht Hund is making it in partnership with Critical Role.
Quick answer: Rockbeasts launches starting January 2027 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam, and a playable demo is available now on Steam.
Rockbeasts release window and platforms
The release is a window rather than a fixed date. The game is confirmed to arrive “Starting January 2027,” with no single day, time, or time zone attached yet. Treat the month as the earliest point it goes on sale, not a precise launch moment.
It is coming to five platforms at once:
- PlayStation 5
- Xbox Series X|S
- Nintendo Switch
- Nintendo Switch 2
- PC (Steam)
What Rockbeasts is about
You run a struggling band of animal musicians trying to survive the trials of the record business. The lineup includes an ostrich frontman in vests and hats, a white doe on guitar, a fish-headed bassist, and an anxious rabbit drummer named Carlton Kowalsky. The world is a Midwest town built around a guitar shop, a downtown strip of bars and clubs, and a single local paper, the Flyover State Gazette.
The central tension is the choice between two routes to success. One is fame and mass appeal, the kind of music people hum in a grocery store. The other is critical acclaim. Carlton’s narration frames this as his fifth band, with the usual worry that it all falls apart, while the group keeps insisting things will be different this time.
Gameplay: planning, resources, and rhythm performances
Rockbeasts splits into two layers. The management layer runs on a turn-based calendar, shown set in July 1993, where you line up gig opportunities, book venues, and chase newspaper coverage. You manage a set of band stats as you go, and running low on any of them shapes what the group can do.
- Focus
- Health
- Hype
- Mood
- Cash
The HUD also tracks longer goals through an “Acclaim” and “Fans” split and a “Roadmap to Success” objective list, so your calendar decisions feed directly into whether you grow a following or earn respect.
The performance layer is a rhythm game. During shows you hit timed button prompts, including RT along with A, B, and X inputs, against rhythm circle targets, and the game grades your timing with “Perfect” and “Good” calls. Concerts play out across different stages and outfits, including sequences in unusual settings such as a cemetery.
Between shows you explore a side-scrolling downtown lined with neon signs and storefronts. Venues and shops include the Rooster Lounge, AERO Club, a Record Shop, and a Mini Market, and booking gigs at these spots is part of how you build toward bigger stages.
Voice cast and the Critical Role partnership
Licht Hund is building Rockbeasts alongside Critical Role, and that collaboration shows up in the cast. Three named performers appear in the reveal:
| Actor | Character | Role |
|---|---|---|
| Iggy Pop | Iggy Pup | Radio DJ (dog) |
| Matthew Mercer | Michael | Music manager (camel) |
| Sam Riegel | Carlton Kowalsky | Band drummer (rabbit) |
Iggy Pup bookends the presentation as an on-air radio host, Michael is the industry manager who lays out the fame-versus-acclaim pitch while on the phone, and Carlton is the nervous drummer who narrates the band’s history and fumbles the post-show encore question.
The Steam demo
A playable demo is live now on Steam, marked “Demo Out Now” on the game’s end screen. It lets you try the calendar planning and rhythm performances ahead of the January 2027 launch, so you can see how the management and gig loops fit together before deciding on the full release.
Until Licht Hund narrows the window to a specific day, January 2027 is the firm target to plan around, and the demo is the one part of Rockbeasts you can play right away.
