🔗 Share this article

It has been 20 years since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, offering everyday gamers the means to become a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered the epic four-minute instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.

Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with the music. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic performance.

The studio previously experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable impact for many musicians featured, introducing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.

A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.

“We rerecorded every song since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”

He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”

Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans

Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the outdated label. It provided all our music a new life.”

At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available in the US, meaning the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Major Band Titles Enduring Influence

Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.

Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.

“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and go to war,” says musician the artist.

DragonForce had already completed a profitable run when their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller

The best promotion, be it for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.

The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.

Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, with set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game following the classic?

“Our team believed such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”