Activision Guitar Hero Live is a 2015 music rhythm video game developed by FreeStyleGames and published by Activision.

Another iconic Activision series, Guitar Hero, is now owned by Microsoft. CEO Bobby Kotick has teased the return of the series, but whether or not this happens with Guitar Hero--and the related DJ Hero and Band Hero franchises--remains to be seen.

ActivisionActivision BlizzardRedOctaneAspyrMusicHero... Guitar Hero/Publishers Guitar Hero, popular electronic game series developed and released by American companies RedOctane, Harmonix Music Systems, and Activision (now Activision Blizzard) in 2005.

Sale to Activision and development by Neversoft (2006–2009) Both RedOctane and Harmonix experienced changes in 2006. RedOctane was bought by Activision in June - who spent US$100 million to acquire the Guitar Hero franchise - while it was announced in October that Harmonix would be purchased by MTV Games.

Guitar Hero Live's new guitar isn't licensed and wasn't inspired by any real-life model; it's simply the Guitar Hero Live guitar. It's sleeker than the original designs, black and tan with white trim and a faux-wood neck. There are no "candy-colored buttons" like on previous Guitar Hero controllers.

Activision has announced that Guitar Hero Live is coming October 20th for all platforms. The price will be $99.99 for the game and guitar.

It doesn't take a business genius to tell you the market was over-saturated, and was certainly a factor in the franchise declining shortly after that. The franchise had simply expanded too much, too fast, much like Oasis circa 'Be Here Now'.

Activision BlizzardActivision / Parent organizationActivision Blizzard, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in Santa Monica, California. It was founded in July 2008 through the merger of Activision, Inc. and Vivendi Games. Wikipedia

Among the included partners are Marshall, Ernie Ball, Zildjian, Guitar Center, AMPEG, Audio-Technica, EMG Pickups, Evans Drumheads, Krank Amplification, Mackie, Orange County Drum & Percussion, Pork Pie Percussion, Regal Tip, Sabian cymbals, and Vox.

Harmonix Music SystemsRob KayRyan LesserRobotkid Guitar Hero/Designers

Guitar Hero was initially released to retail stores in a bundle that packaged the game disc and a Gibson SG guitar controller, priced at $69.99.

Will my Guitar Hero Live controller work on older editions of Guitar Hero? Possibly, although this is not recommended as the older games were formatted for a five-button guitar controller. As a result, an older game may misinterpret inputs from the Guitar Hero Live controller, rendering the game unplayable.