According to the , any customers who buy the Guitar Hero 5 standalone or guitar bundle between September 1 and October 1 can redeem a code on the instruction manual by October 31 that will provide them with a copy of Guitar Hero Van Halen within 6 weeks of redemption. With Guitar Hero Van Halen releasing at the end of December, the customers who take advantage of the deal early will be able to play the game for weeks before the retail release of the third band-centric Guitar Hero game (after and ).

With garnering a lot of hype, this deal could be a big salvo in the annual Activision-EA battle of the bands.