Marking two decades after Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the means to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break in front of an enthusiastic crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the display in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, 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. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series which made a significant impact for many of the artists featured, introducing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact the first two games mostly used cover versions.
“We rerecorded all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the remarkable aspects was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans
Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, but then once it got included in the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the outdated tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still unreleased in the US, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band more money than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce previously completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that we were selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier marketing, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.
Titles like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, with set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry in the spirit of the classic?
“We thought those games could be similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to persist with new generations.”
