It has been two decades since Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the opportunity to feel like a rock star. Not literally, but try convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.
The studio previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable impact for many of the artists included, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, however once it got featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of their songs saw an increase significantly at a time when the music business faced decline.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took months of practice to accomplish.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
The band previously completed a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Games such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community active, and there’s expectations of something from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun production on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
