🔗 Share this article

Marking two decades after the legendary game debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that anyone who's nailed the epic lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.

Created by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.

The studio had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a significant influence for many of the artists included, introducing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.

A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.

“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”

He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans

Irish group the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered outdated material, but then when it was included in the title young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”

At that time, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Influence

Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group more money compared to their studio albums. It moved more than half a million units in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.

The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took nine months of practice.

“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.

The band had already wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before the headliners at the event.”

In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.

Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar

Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.

Most installments were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.

Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?

“We thought such titles might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue with new generations.”