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Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the means to become rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.

Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes moving along the display synchronized to the music. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of a genuine performance.

Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable impact for many musicians included, showcasing classic groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.

A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.

“We reproduced every song since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”

He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many parents reached out and thanked us for introducing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational phenomenon.”

Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans

Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls how the series revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, however once it got included in the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”

In 2008, the band's first record was still not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.

Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Influence

Rock’s biggest acts quickly took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 units upon release, while sales of their songs rose of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.

Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone played at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice of practice.

“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.

The band previously completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before top acts at the event.”

In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has a unique musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar

The best marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.

The majority installments came out in just a half-decade between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.

Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?

“We thought those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”