Guitar Hero is not officially available on Xbox Series X

You cannot buy or play Guitar Hero on Xbox Series X through the official Xbox store or any current licensing deal. Activision, which owns the Guitar Hero franchise, has not released any Guitar Hero title for Xbox Series X or PlayStation 5. The most recent Guitar Hero game, Guitar Hero Live, came out in 2015 and is no longer sold digitally on any platform.

This is a licensing issue, not a technical one. The original Guitar Hero games relied on music licensing agreements that expired years ago. When those agreements ended, the games were delisted from digital stores. Activision has not renewed those licenses or created new Guitar Hero content for current-generation consoles.

If you own a physical copy of an older Guitar Hero game for Xbox 360 or Xbox One, you cannot play it on Series X because those games are not backward compatible. The Series X does not support the plastic guitar controllers those games required, and the licensing for the songs in those older titles has long expired.

Key Takeaways

  • No Guitar Hero game is currently available for purchase or play on Xbox Series X through official channels.
  • Guitar Hero Live and earlier titles were delisted from digital stores when music licensing agreements expired.
  • Physical copies of older Guitar Hero games for Xbox 360 or Xbox One will not work on Series X.
  • Rhythm games with similar gameplay, such as Clone Hero (on PC) or other music games, exist as alternatives but require different hardware.

Why Guitar Hero games disappeared from digital stores

Guitar Hero games contain licensed music from real artists and record labels. Each song in the game requires a separate licensing agreement that costs money and lasts for a set period. When Activision decided to stop supporting Guitar Hero around 2015, it let those licenses expire rather than pay to renew them.

Once a license expires, the game cannot legally be sold anymore. This is why Guitar Hero Live and all earlier titles vanished from the Xbox Store, PlayStation Store, and other digital retailers. Physical copies that were already sold can still be played on the original hardware, but the games cannot be re-released or made backward compatible without paying for new licenses.

The cost of relicensing hundreds of songs for a new generation of consoles is substantial. Activision has not found it worth the investment, so the franchise remains dormant on current hardware.

What you can play instead on Xbox Series X

Crypt of the NecroDancer is a rhythm-based dungeon crawler available on Xbox Series X. It is not a guitar game, but it requires you to time button presses to music, which shares the core appeal of Guitar Hero.

Beat Saber is available on Xbox Series X through Game Pass. It is a VR rhythm game where you slash blocks to the beat of music. You will need an Xbox-compatible VR headset, but the gameplay loop—hitting targets in time with music—mirrors what makes Guitar Hero engaging.

Sayonara Wild Hearts is a music-driven action game where you control a character through levels synchronized to pop and electronic tracks. It is not a rhythm game in the traditional sense, but it emphasizes timing and musical synchronization.

None of these are guitar simulators, but they all center on matching your input to music, which is the core mechanic that made Guitar Hero popular.

Clone Hero and other PC alternatives

Clone Hero is a free, fan-made rhythm game for PC that plays almost identically to Guitar Hero. It supports the original plastic guitar controllers from Guitar Hero and Rock Band, and the community has created thousands of custom songs. However, Clone Hero only runs on Windows PC, not on Xbox Series X.

If you have a gaming PC and still own a Guitar Hero controller, Clone Hero is the closest experience to the original games. You can read it for free from clonehero.net, though you will need to source the controller separately (used copies are available on eBay and other secondhand markets).

This is not an Xbox option, but it is worth knowing if you have access to a PC and want to play something that feels exactly like Guitar Hero.

Backward compatibility and older Xbox consoles

If you own an Xbox One, some older rhythm games may still be playable through backward compatibility, though Guitar Hero is not among them. The Xbox backward compatibility program supports hundreds of Xbox 360 games, but it does not include Guitar Hero titles because of licensing restrictions and controller incompatibility.

The plastic guitar controllers used by Guitar Hero do not work with Xbox Series X or Series S. Even if a game were backward compatible, you would have no way to play it without the original controller hardware, which is no longer manufactured.

If you want to play Guitar Hero on any current Xbox console, you are out of options through official channels.

Checking for used physical copies

You may find used physical copies of Guitar Hero games for Xbox 360 or Xbox One at secondhand retailers like GameStop, eBay, or local game shops. However, these will not work on Xbox Series X. They will only play on the original Xbox 360 or Xbox One hardware, and you would also need to find a used plastic guitar controller, which are increasingly rare and expensive.

The cost of buying a used game, a used controller, and potentially an older console just to play Guitar Hero is usually higher than the price of a new game on Series X. It is not a practical path.

Frequently Asked Questions

Will Guitar Hero ever come back to Xbox Series X?

There is no announced plan for a new Guitar Hero game on any current console. Activision has not released a Guitar Hero title since 2015, and the licensing costs for music make it unlikely without significant investment. If a new game were made, it would probably launch on all platforms at once, but there is no indication this will happen.

Can I play Guitar Hero Live on Xbox Series X?

No. Guitar Hero Live is not backward compatible on Series X, and it is not sold in the Xbox Store. It was delisted when its music licenses expired. You would need an Xbox One or Xbox 360 to play it, along with the original plastic controller.

Do the plastic guitar controllers work with Xbox Series X?

No. Xbox Series X does not support the wireless or USB guitar controllers from any Guitar Hero or Rock Band game. Even if a game were made available, you would have no way to control it with the original hardware.

Is there a Guitar Hero game on Xbox Game Pass?

No. No Guitar Hero title is included in Xbox Game Pass. Game Pass does include other music and rhythm games like Beat Saber, but not Guitar Hero.