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Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Not literally, but try telling that someone who's mastered the epic four-minute instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.

Developed by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.

The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.

Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.

“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. But once the game took off, album purchases airtime increased, all artists desired to participate.”

He adds: “One of the amazing things was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Finds a New Audience

Northern Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was included in the title young people were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”

In 2008, the band's debut album was still not available stateside, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and several recognized us thanks to the game,” he notes.

Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence

Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated stories, visuals and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 copies upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.

The series continues to inspire quick-handed dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat 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 similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring nine months to accomplish.

“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says musician the artist.

The band previously wrapped up a successful tour when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”

In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it risked eclipsing all other the band has done. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller

Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.

The majority installments were released over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a brief comeback several years later.

Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following the classic?

“Our team believed those games might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”