🔗 Share this article

Marking two decades since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.

Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine performance.

The studio previously experimented in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a remarkable influence for many musicians included, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.

Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.

“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”

He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans

Northern Irish group one featured act included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, however when it was featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”

At that time, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.

Major Band Titles Enduring Influence

Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and related stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It sold well over half a million copies in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.

The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated requiring nine months to accomplish.

“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.

DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run when their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners at the event.”

In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.

Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar

Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.

The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.

Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, with set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered work on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game following the classic?

“Our team believed such titles could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”