It has been two decades since the legendary game first launched in North America, giving players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed living-room audience.
Developed by the developers, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to the music. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine performance.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a remarkable impact for many musicians featured, introducing decades-old bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.
“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out expressing gratitude for introducing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band the Answer included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series brought classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the game and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. This validated the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained not available in the US, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than half a million copies upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, let alone played at increased tempo and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept 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’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Legacy of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the founders in development. A new studio has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games might become like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant new music that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”
