Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to the music. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant influence for many of the artists included, introducing classic groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded every song because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was included in the title young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold more than 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 continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run before their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
