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It has been 20 years after Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, giving players everywhere the means to become rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.

Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of an authentic performance.

The studio had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a remarkable influence for many musicians included, showcasing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.

A former executive, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.

“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”

He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”

Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans

Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Typically this had been considered music that was past it, however once it got included in the title young people discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”

In 2008, the band's debut album was still not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.

Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Influence

Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue than any of their records. It sold well over half a million copies in its first week, and sales of their songs saw an increase significantly at a time when the music business was already collapsing.

The series still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, a streamer completed an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention played at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated it took months of practice of practice.

“The game offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician the artist.

DragonForce previously wrapped up a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.

The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar

Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.

The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.

Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?

“We thought those games could be similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”