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Marking 20 years since the legendary game hit the market across the Atlantic, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to become rock legends. Not in reality, but try telling that anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.

Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the screen in time with the music. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine performance.

The studio had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.

Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.

“We rerecorded all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”

He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Gains a New Audience

Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the title young people were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the outdated label. It gave all our music a new life.”

In 2008, the band's debut album was still not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Major Band Titles Enduring Impact

Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than half a million copies upon release, while demand for their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.

The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging enough on expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed it took nine months of practice.

“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.

DragonForce had already completed a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” 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 was so immense that it risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.

Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar

The best promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.

Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.

Games like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community alive, with expectations of something from the founders in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following the classic?

“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”