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Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing players everywhere the tools to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing anyone who has mastered the epic four-minute instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.

Created by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic live show.

The studio previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise that had a significant impact for many of the artists featured, showcasing classic groups to millions of younger players.

Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured cover versions.

“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”

He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Gains a New Audience

Irish group one featured act had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the game young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”

At that time, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Major Band Titles Enduring Influence

Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band more money compared to their records. It sold well over 500,000 units in its first week, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.

Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical gameplay and extensive customisation options. The song is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring nine months of practice.

“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” says musician the artist.

The band previously wrapped up a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”

Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller

The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.

Most installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.

Titles like Clone Hero and newer releases have kept the community active, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?

“Our team believed such titles could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue with new generations.”