It has been two decades since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, providing players everywhere the tools to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try telling that someone who's mastered the epic lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with the music. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable influence for many musicians included, introducing classic groups to millions of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the songs they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish blues-rock band the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been considered outdated material, however when it was included in the title and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album remained unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.
Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era when the music business was already collapsing.
The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention played at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.
The band previously completed a successful tour before their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, apparel or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
