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Marking 20 years after the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the means to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, but try telling that anyone who has mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.

Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic live show.

The studio previously tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a remarkable impact on numerous musicians included, showcasing classic groups to millions of younger players.

Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.

“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”

He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”

Timeless Music Gains a New Audience

Northern Irish group one featured act had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”

In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained not available in the US, so the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.

Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact

Rock’s heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related stories, imagery and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly at a time when the music business was already collapsing.

The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took months of practice of practice.

“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, it doesn't imply you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician the artist.

DragonForce previously wrapped up a successful tour before their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”

Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller

The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.

The majority installments came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.

Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, with set to be something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?

“We thought those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”