It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the tools to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the sensation of an authentic performance.
Harmonix previously experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a remarkable impact for many musicians featured, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We reproduced every song since the cost was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, album purchases and radio play increased, all artists desired to be in.”
He continues: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer had their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game brought older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was included in the title young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the outdated label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still not available stateside, meaning Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on US tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the group greater revenue compared to their records. It sold more than half a million copies in its first week, while sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring months of practice to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use a real gun and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners at the event.”
Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for a major film. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, 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”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene active, with set to be a new product from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”
