Activision Issues Voluntary Refund For Guitar Hero Live

Activision has announced that it is offering a refund for any customers who purchased Guitar Hero Live after December 2017. You only qualify for a refund if you bought Guitar Hero Live in the US.

There hasn’t been a specific statement regarding why Activision is offering the refund, just a blog post detailing how you can secure one. To qualify for a refund, you must have purchased Guitar Hero Live between December 1, 2017 and January 1, 2019. Activision will need confirmation of the purchase, such as a receipt or credit card statement, as well. If you fit these qualifications, then submit a Claim Form before May 1, and you’ll be refunded your money. You can still submit the form if you have no confirmation of purchase, but then your refund isn’t guaranteed.

Releasing in October 2015, Guitar Hero Live introduced a new mode to the music game franchise, called Guitar Hero TV. In this mode, you’d play songs from the first-person perspective of the band’s lead guitarist. Hitting your notes perfectly would earn you cheers from the crowd, while messing up one too many times would cause them to boo you off the stage. It’s also the majority of Guitar Hero Live. The base game features 23 songs, while Guitar Hero TV includes over 200.

That all changed on December 1, 2018–perhaps, not so coincidentally, a year after the cut off date for Activision’s refund–when Guitar Hero TV’s servers shut down, removing almost every single song from the game. Although a bit of a shock, the move was not completely unforeseen. Prior, in April 2016, Guitar Hero Live developer FreeStyle had major layoffs in response to the game’s underperformance in terms of sales. Additionally, in January 2017, Ubisoft acquired FreeStyle Games away from Activision, which kept Guitar Hero Live with the Call of Duty publisher without the game’s developer. Activision’s decision to refund the game now might be intended to head off any potential lawsuits.

Guitar Hero Live is still available for numerous platforms, all of which are eligible for refund. The game is available for PS2, Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, Wii U, Xbox One, PS4, PC, and several mobile and handheld devices.