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It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the means to feel like rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.

Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to the music. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.

Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series that had a remarkable impact for many musicians included, showcasing classic groups to millions of younger players.

A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.

“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”

He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”

Classic Rock Gains a New Audience

Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, however when it was featured on the title young people discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog a new life.”

In 2008, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song on the tour bus, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.

Major Band Titles Enduring Impact

Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions centered around their music collections and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money compared to their records. It moved more than 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.

Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took nine months of practice.

“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.

DragonForce had already completed a successful tour when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller

Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to enable everyone to do it”.

Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.

Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the community alive, with set to be something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of the classic?

“We thought such titles might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”