Critical Role will co-publish Rockbeasts, indie studio LICHTHUND’s story-driven rock-and-roll management RPG, according to an exclusive report from Polygon’s Aimee Hart on September 29. The game is planned for Steam in 2027. Rockbeasts is not a brand-new IP reveal today — the project was previously shown in a February 2025 Xbox Wire post; the new beat is Critical Role joining as co-publisher.
Set in an alternate 1990s America, Rockbeasts puts players in the manager’s chair for an up-and-coming grunge band chasing stadium glory. Polygon says the loop covers booking gigs, managing money, maintaining gear, scheduling rehearsals, and navigating predatory record labels and jaded executives — with choices that carry good and bad consequences for the band’s path.
Rhythm concerts and Critical Role voices
Alongside RPG and choice systems, Rockbeasts includes rhythm-based concert performance. How the band plays live feeds into its overall success, Polygon reports, on top of off-stage management decisions that shape reputation and relationships.
Critical Role’s cast will voice the band. Polygon also says Grammy winner Iggy Pop appears, though in what capacity remains unspecified. Ben Van Der Fluit, Critical Role’s SVP of Business and Content Development, told Polygon the pitch stood out as character-driven, funny, and emotional, with player choices that shape the band and their relationships, and that the company is excited to bring Rockbeasts to players as it expands in games. LICHTHUND creative director Bartek Pieczonka said Critical Role is helping deliver “the full stadium treatment,” with creative chemistry already loud and clear for the audience the game should reach.
After Dispatch’s early sales run
Polygon notes Critical Role’s recent hit with AdHoc Studio’s comedy superhero game Dispatch, which it says sold over 1 million copies in just 10 days. Rockbeasts is the next Critical Role video-game collaboration named in Hart’s exclusive, framed as co-publishing LICHTHUND’s project rather than a Critical Role tabletop campaign adaptation.
Rockbeasts is planned to launch on Steam in 2027. Polygon’s report does not restate console platforms for that Steam window.
