It has been two decades since the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the means to become rock legends. Not literally, but try convincing someone who has mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Developed by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, 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 in 2006. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many musicians included, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once the game became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Finds Younger Fans
Northern Irish group one featured act had their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers how the series brought older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. This validated the genre, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still not available in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Impact
Music's biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related stories, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging enough on expert mode, let alone played at double speed while hitting every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“The game offers a, imaginary experience. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run when their hit appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts at the event.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has risked eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song featured in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders in development. A new studio has begun production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
