🔗 Share this article

Marking two decades since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic living-room audience.

Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the display in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.

The studio previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series which made a significant influence on numerous of the artists included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.

Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.

“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”

He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”

Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans

Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then when it was included in the game young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”

In 2008, the Answer’s first record was still not available in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.

Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence

Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group more money compared to their records. It sold more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.

The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring nine months of practice.

“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.

The band had already wrapped up a successful tour when their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”

In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked eclipsing all other accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.

Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar

Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.

Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.

Games like Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the community alive, with expectations of something from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?

“Our team believed those games might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist with new generations.”