Marking two decades after Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, providing players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break 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 a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of a genuine performance.
The studio previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable impact on numerous musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once the game took off, and record sales airtime were going up, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered outdated material, however when it was featured on the title young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band more money than any of their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 units in its first week, while demand for Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.
The series still motivates quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says musician Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run before their hit was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, with expectations of something from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought such titles might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”
