It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine performance.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a significant impact for many musicians featured, introducing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group one featured act included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series brought older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, however once it got included in the title young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record remained not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved well over half a million copies in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt 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 gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult even in expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play 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 profitable run when their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
The best marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
Most installments were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has entered work on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
