It has been 20 years after the legendary game first launched in North America, giving players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing anyone who has mastered the epic four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series which made a remarkable influence for many of the artists featured, introducing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, but then once it got included in the game young people were finding it, abruptly it was cool.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 Answer’s first record was still not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units upon release, while sales of their songs rose of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring nine months of practice.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you should use a real gun and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, with set to be something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles could be similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
