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It has been 20 years since Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the means to feel like a rock star. Not literally, but try telling that anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.

Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.

The studio had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series that had a remarkable influence for many musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.

Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.

“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game took off, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”

He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became an intergenerational phenomenon.”

Timeless Music Finds a New Audience

Northern Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, however once it got included in the game young people discovered it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”

In 2008, the band's first record remained not available stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on US tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song on the tour bus, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.

Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact

Music's heavyweight names soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 copies upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.

Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. The song 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. The streamer stated it took months of practice of practice.

“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.

The band had already completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing just before the headliners at the event.”

In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it has risked eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.

Enduring Impact from the Iconic Controller

Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.

Most installments came out over a mere half-decade from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.

Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, with set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun work on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following Guitar Hero?

“Our team believed those games could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist for future fans.”