Ubisoft Announces The End Of New Rocksmith DLC

As of April 3rd, 2020, Ubisoft’s San Francisco division announced that their focus has shifted to the development of a new project, upon which the team has been hard at work. Due to the existence of this unnamed project and the resources its production requires, the team announced on their blog that these resources will be taken from Ubisoft’s innovative guitar-teaching series of games, Rocksmith.

To that end, Ubisoft San Francisco clearly stated in the blog post that the original Rocksmith and, much more pertinently, its updated 2014 version will no longer receive new playable songs via weekly DLC updates. Since its initial release, Rocksmith 2014 has been updated with packs containing at least three new songs every Tuesday (in the U.S., at least) for the past three-hundred eighty-three weeks; this announcement finalizes the game’s DLC library at what I consider to be a shocking total of 1,570 songs.

Rocksmith and Rocksmith 2014‘s respective libraries have introduced players the world over (including yours truly) to new or less-than-familiar genres of music, bands, and playing styles for years now. Ubisoft often mentions the game’s so-called “60-day challenge,” which essentially claims that playing either of the Rocksmith titles diligently for at least an hour each day has the potential to turn a complete guitar beginner into a lean, mean, rock-playing machine within two months.

For what it’s worth, I hold both Rocksmith titles in particularly high regard. Unfortunately, I don’t have nearly as much time or motivation to pick up my guitar (or bass, for that matter) and practice as I did when I first took up the instrument back in high school. However, it’s nice to know both Rocksmith games and all the DLC I own for them are still sitting patiently in my Steam library, awaiting the day when I can tackle the aforementioned sixty-day challenge. I must say, I’m saddened by the announcement that the games won’t have their libraries expanded any further.

To conclude on a somber note. As I recall, my first mention of the Rocksmith franchise here, was in the article wherein I reported upon the passing of the legendary Canadian musician, Neil Peart. At the end of that article, I said I would pass the time by learning to play the selection of songs performed by Peart’s revered band, Rush, to honor his memory. Shamefully, I still haven’t gotten around to that; I really should rectify this grievance, considering I’ve got nothing else to do with most of my time due to current circumstances. If you find yourself inclined to pick up the guitar, Rocksmith is always a great starting point in my humble opinion.