Throughout September 2009, people who purchased or preordered Guitar Hero 5 in the US were given a code which they could redeem to receive a free copy of Guitar Hero: Van Halen prior to its retail release. These copies began arriving to customers in early October for PlayStation 2, Xbox 360, and Wii players, while the PlayStation 3 version was delayed due to a printing error. The game came in a cardboard sleeve with cover art indicating that it was for promotional use.