🔗 Share this article

Marking two decades since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing anyone who's nailed the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.

Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.

The studio previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a significant influence for many of the artists included, introducing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.

Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges in securing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.

“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game took off, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”

He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”

Classic Rock Finds a New Audience

Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered outdated material, but then when it was featured on the game young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music a new life.”

In 2008, the band's first record was still unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.

Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact

Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band greater revenue compared to their records. It sold more than half a million copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.

The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring months of practice of practice.

“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.

The band had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar

The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to participate”.

The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.

Games such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of the classic?

“We thought those games might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”