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It has been two decades after the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing anyone who has mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.

Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic performance.

The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.

Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.

“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to participate.”

He adds: “One of the amazing things was how many parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans

Northern Irish group one featured act included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “The game offered a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the game young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”

At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.

Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence

Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 copies upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.

The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.

“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and enlist,” notes musician the artist.

The band previously completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar

The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.

Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.

Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community alive, with set to be something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun work on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?

“We thought those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”