It has been 20 years after Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the tools to become rock legends. Not literally, but try telling that anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable influence on numerous musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the songs – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived older hits back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was seen as music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the title young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album remained not available in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the band more money compared to their records. It sold well over 500,000 units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took nine months to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run before their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
