Marking 20 years after the legendary game first launched in North America, giving everyday gamers the opportunity to become rock legends. Figuratively speaking, but try convincing someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic live show.
Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable franchise which made a significant influence for many musicians featured, introducing 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 songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once the game became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Gains a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, but then once it got included in the game young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the Answer’s first record remained unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said earned the band greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority installments were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
