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Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero hit the market across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.

Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.

The studio previously tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, later purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series that had a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.

A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, recalls the early financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.

“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”

He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”

Classic Rock Finds a New Audience

Irish group the Answer included 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. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the title young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided our catalog a new life.”

At that time, the band's debut album was still unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the band during their a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.

Major Band Titles and Lasting Influence

Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group more money compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.

The series still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took nine months to accomplish.

“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.

DragonForce had already completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.

The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar

The best marketing, be it for cars, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.

Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.

Games such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene active, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun work on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?

“We thought those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”