When Ubisoft’s guitar-strumming title Rocksmith first released for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in 2011, it included roughly 50 playable songs. Although it did feature such classics as The Animals’ House of the Rising Sun and Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama, there was definitely a lot missing.
However, over the next several years, the developer has delivered. Rocksmith has consistently released DLC for 383 weeks — over 7 years. The game, which received a sequel entitled Rocksmith 2014 in that year and a remaster in 2016, now features a catalog of 1,570 downloadable songs.
Now, this magnificent years-long tradition comes to an end – as all good things must. On April 3, 2020, Ubisoft San Francisco posted an announcement on the official Rocksmith Web site: the production of DLC has officially concluded. They shared that the Rocksmith team is now working on a new, currently unrevealed project. More details are promised for later this year.
The final sets of Rocksmith DLC prior to this announcement included Janis Joplin’s Me and Bobby McGee and the Opeth Pack, a three-song bundle including the band’s hits Bleak, Blackwater Park and Ghost of Perdition. The game’s extensive catalog will continue to remain available for purchase and download. The DLC features over seven decades of rock hits — and, technically, over three centuries of music, thanks to the inclusion of such classics as Ride of the Valkyries and In the Hall of the Mountain King.
Rocksmith was initially conceived as a truly educational experience that combines music and gaming. Rather than using a dedicated controller — as fellow music-based titles Guitar Hero and Rock Band have done — Rocksmith can be played using a real-life electric or bass guitar. Fans have responded positively to the game’s usefulness as a teaching tool, allowing them to strengthen their guitar skills by playing along with their favorite songs.
Ubisoft San Francisco has promised that, while the release of DLC may be concluding, there is still plenty in store for Rocksmith fans. This is slated to include a continuation of the online Rocksmith Dev Streams.
What’s your favorite song to play on Rocksmith? Which titles from the DLC catalog do you recommend purchasing? What do you hope Ubisoft San Francisco’s brand new project will be? Let us know!