🔗 Share this article

Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing 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 four-minute instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.

Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.

Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable impact for many of the artists featured, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.

Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.

“We rerecorded every song since the cost was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”

He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”

Classic Rock Gains a New Audience

Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the game young people discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”

In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained not available stateside, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.

Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact

Music's biggest acts quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the group more money than any of their studio albums. It moved more than half a million copies in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business was already collapsing.

Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging even in expert mode, let alone played at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.

“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.

The band had already wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”

Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.

The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller

The best promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.

Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.

Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun production on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?

“We thought those games might become similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”