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It has been two decades since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not literally, but try telling that someone who has nailed the epic lengthy guitar solo before a packed crowd of friends.

Created by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic live show.

Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.

A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.

“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”

He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”

Timeless Music Gains Younger Fans

Northern Irish blues-rock band the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally this had been seen as music that was past it, however when it was featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”

At that time, the band's debut album remained not available stateside, so Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the band during their US tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.

Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs Enduring Influence

Music's biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the band more money compared to their studio albums. It moved more than half a million copies in its first week, while demand for their songs rose significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.

Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult even in expert mode, let alone performed at double speed and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They stated requiring months of practice of practice.

“The game is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” notes musician the artist.

The band had already wrapped up a profitable run before their hit appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts on the Mayhem festival.”

Indeed, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.

The Lasting Legacy from the Iconic Controller

The best marketing, be it for automobiles, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.

The majority installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.

Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?

“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”