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It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the means to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic living-room audience.

Created by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.

The studio had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists included, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.

A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.

“We reproduced every song because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”

He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”

Timeless Music Finds a New Audience

Irish blues-rock band one featured act had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”

At that time, the band's debut album was still not available stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence

Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group more money than any of their records. It sold more than half a million units upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.

The series still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging even in expert mode, let alone played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.

“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.

The band had already completed a profitable run before their hit was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before the headliners at the event.”

Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.

Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller

Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.

Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.

Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, with expectations of something from the founders in development. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?

“We thought those games could be like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”