It has been 20 years after the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, giving everyday gamers the tools to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic performance.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar franchise that had a significant impact on numerous of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.
“We reproduced all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”
He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans
Northern Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series brought older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Typically this had been considered music that was past it, however once it got featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record remained unreleased stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, it was said to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies in its first week, and demand for their songs saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult enough on expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took months of practice of practice.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has risked eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.
Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller
The best marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals waned, aside from a short-lived revival several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Is the world ready to embrace another game in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
