It has been 20 years after the legendary game first launched in North America, providing everyday gamers the tools to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff corresponded to specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.
Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, later purchased by the gaming giant during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable impact for many musicians included, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.
A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the recordings – even though initial releases mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music because the cost was so high,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once the game took off, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many parents got in touch and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”
Timeless Music Gains a New Audience
Irish blues-rock band the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically this had been seen as outdated material, but then once it got included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”
In 2008, the Answer’s debut album was still not available in the US, meaning the game was a key medium of discovery for the group during their a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.
Major Band Titles Enduring Influence
Rock’s heavyweight names soon capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in specialized game editions that focused on their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry faced decline.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem popularized through Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. This track is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took nine months to accomplish.
“The game offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.
DragonForce had already completed a profitable run before their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure from Guitar Hero was so immense that it threatened to overshadow everything else accomplishments. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Iconic Controller
Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
Most installments were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has begun work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t persist for future fans.”
