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It has been two decades after the legendary game hit the market in North America, providing players everywhere the means to become a rock star. Not in reality, but try convincing anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.

Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of a genuine performance.

The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to millions of younger players.

A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.

“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when the game took off, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to participate.”

He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”

Timeless Music Gains a New Audience

Northern Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, however when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”

At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.

Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence

Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and associated lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved well over half a million units in its first week, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.

Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring nine months to accomplish.

“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.

DragonForce previously completed a profitable run before their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”

Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it risked overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the song was used in a trailer for a major film. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Legacy of a Iconic Controller

Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.

The majority installments came out over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.

Games like the fan project and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of the classic?

“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”