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Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero debuted across the Atlantic, providing everyday gamers the tools to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, but try telling that someone who has nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic crowd of friends.

Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine live show.

The studio had already tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable series that had a significant impact for many musicians featured, showcasing classic groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.

Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.

“We reproduced every song since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”

He continues: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It became a multigenerational phenomenon.”

Timeless Music Gains a New Audience

Northern Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “Guitar Hero provided a larger, new demographic. Generally this had been seen as outdated material, but then when it was featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”

At that time, the band's first record remained unreleased in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.

Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Influence

Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions that focused on their music collections and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said earned the band greater revenue than any of their records. It sold well over half a million units upon release, and demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business faced decline.

Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult enough on the hardest setting, let alone performed at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer claimed requiring nine months of practice.

“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.

The band had already completed a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, 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 everything else the band has done. Recently, the song featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – each person has their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.

The Lasting Impact of a Iconic Controller

The best marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it evokes a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.

Most of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.

Games like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, with set to be something from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of the classic?

“We thought such titles might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to continue with new generations.”