🔗 Share this article

Marking 20 years since the legendary game debuted in North America, offering everyday gamers the means to feel like a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing someone who's mastered Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break before a packed crowd of friends.

Created by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.

The studio had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series which made a significant influence for many of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.

A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.

“We reproduced every song since the cost was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when the game took off, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”

He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Finds a New Audience

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 to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”

At that time, the band's first record was still not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “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 Influence

Music's heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over 500,000 copies in its first week, and demand for their songs rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.

Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging enough on expert mode, not to mention played at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring nine months of practice.

“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” says musician the artist.

DragonForce previously wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners at the event.”

In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.

Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar

The best marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to participate”.

Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.

Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community active, with expectations of a new product from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?

“Our team believed those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist with new generations.”