Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, offering everyday gamers the tools to feel like rock legends. Not in reality, but try telling that someone who's nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the display in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine live show.
The studio previously tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists included, introducing decades-old groups to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band the Answer had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was included in the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave all our music a new life.”
At that time, the band's first record was still unreleased in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact
Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved well over 500,000 units in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics and extensive customisation options. The song is difficult enough on expert mode, let alone performed at double speed and without missing a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took nine months of practice.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. If you play other games, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band had already wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners at the event.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow all other accomplishments. Recently, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Legacy from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the creators believed humans have a natural human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs such as the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, aside from a short-lived revival in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, and there’s expectations of a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun work on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game following the classic?
“We thought such titles could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist with new generations.”
