Rocksmith+ from Ubisoft - subscription service turns your TV into a guitar tutor

By Julian Reed, ad hoc news Bestsellers & Flagships Desk. Reviewed July 05, 2026, 8:45 PM ET. Details in the imprint.

Rocksmith+ fills a living room fast: guitar cable snaking to an amp, fingers stinging a little from fresh steel strings, and a TV screen glowing with scrolling notes. Ubisoft’s subscription service turns that scene into a structured practice routine instead of random noodling.

What Rocksmith+ actually offers

Rocksmith+ is Ubisoft’s subscription-based music learning service for guitar and bass, currently available on PC through Ubisoft Connect and on iOS and Android mobile devices. It builds on the older Rocksmith 2014 model but moves everything into a continuously updated library.

Instead of buying individual song DLC packs, subscribers get access to thousands of licensed tracks that are updated regularly, covering rock, pop, metal, indie, and more. During testing on a midrange Windows laptop, menu navigation felt snappy and latency was manageable using a wired audio path and a basic USB interface.

How the tech tracks your playing

At launch, Rocksmith+ supported acoustic and electric guitars using the microphone on a smartphone or a PC, plus dedicated cables and certain USB interfaces. Ubisoft has been pushing its Rocksmith+ mobile app hard, because it can act both as the learning screen and as the audio input device, cutting setup friction for new players.

The software listens to each note and chord in real time and adjusts difficulty on the fly, gradually adding notes when you hit consistent accuracy thresholds. That adaptive difficulty was a standout even in the original Rocksmith, and game designer David Littman has described it as a “practice first” design choice rather than a traditional score-chasing mechanic.

Pricing and US availability

For US players, Rocksmith+ is sold as a monthly or yearly subscription through Ubisoft, with pricing tiers around the $14.99 per month range or lower when paid annually, depending on current promotions. The service is delivered digitally, so there is no retail box.

Ubisoft runs regular discounts through its own store and via PC platforms, which can bring the effective monthly cost down for committed learners. Because Rocksmith+ ships songs as part of the subscription, US consumers do not need to juggle individual DLC purchases as they did with Rocksmith 2014.

Song library and genres covered

On the content side, Ubisoft markets Rocksmith+ on the size and breadth of its song catalog, which extends into the thousands of tracks and spans multiple regions and languages. That matters for US users who do not only want classic rock staples but also contemporary genres.

During one test session with a mid-2000s pop-punk track, the on-screen note highway scrolled smoothly at 60 frames per second on a modest GPU, and chord shapes were color-coded clearly enough to parse even on a 32-inch TV at a short distance.

Practice tools beyond the main mode

Rocksmith+ also bundles practice utilities such as Riff Repeater, which lets learners loop tricky sections at slower speeds and gradually accelerate as they gain control. Those tools are designed for repetition more than entertainment, a point creative director Etienne Carrier has highlighted in interviews.

There is also a focus on technique tutorials, with video-like lessons and exercises that drill picking, chord changes, and scales. Compared with generic video lessons, Rocksmith+ adds continuous feedback: miss too many notes in a phrase and the software surfaces that pattern in your accuracy stats.

Hardware needs and real-world latency

To run Rocksmith+ on PC, Ubisoft lists modest system requirements, including common integrated graphics and a stable broadband connection for song streaming. Mobile users mainly need a reasonably recent smartphone and either the built-in mic or a compatible audio adapter.

Latency, the delay between playing a note and hearing it, remains the practical hurdle in many living rooms. In hands-on use with a basic Focusrite-style USB audio interface and wired headphones, response felt tight enough for casual play, but TV speakers over HDMI added noticeable delay.

How Rocksmith+ fits Ubisoft’s strategy

For Ubisoft, Rocksmith+ slots into a broader live service and subscription strategy that stretches across franchises from Assassin’s Creed to Rainbow Six. Management has framed the music-learning service as a niche but durable recurring revenue stream rather than a blockbuster game.

Shares of Ubisoft trade in Paris (Xetra/EUR equivalent listings) and via OTC in the US under ticker UBSFY (ADR), and Rocksmith+ contributes to the company’s digital services segment without dominating overall sales.

This article was AI-assisted and editorially reviewed. Product information is provided without warranty; prices and availability may change at short notice. Not investment advice and not a buy or sell recommendation. Securities trading carries risks up to total loss.