🔗 Share this article

Marking 20 years after the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, providing everyday gamers the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, but try telling that someone who has mastered the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.

Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.

Harmonix previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists included, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.

A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured cover versions.

“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game took off, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”

He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans

Northern Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the title young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”

At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact

Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the group greater revenue compared to their records. It moved more than half a million copies upon release, and sales of their songs rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.

The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took nine months of practice.

“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.

The band previously wrapped up a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts at the event.”

In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.

Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar

The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to participate”.

Most installments were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.

Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered production on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?

“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”