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Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to become rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has mastered the epic lengthy instrumental break before a packed crowd of friends.

Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to match coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, creating the sensation of a genuine performance.

Harmonix had already tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series that had a remarkable influence for many of the artists included, showcasing decades-old groups to a new generation of younger players.

Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.

“We reproduced every song since the cost was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved nearly impossible. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. But once the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”

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

Classic Rock Finds a New Audience

Northern Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as music that was past it, but then once it got included in the title and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it was cool. This validated it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave our catalog a new life.”

In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained not available in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their a North American tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.

Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact

Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and related lore, visuals and legendary status. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group more money than any of their studio albums. It moved well over half a million units in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase significantly during an era as the industry faced decline.

The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Recently, a streamer completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging even in the hardest setting, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.

“The game offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” says musician the artist.

The band had already wrapped up a profitable run when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “It exploded on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it has risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “Should you just hear a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.

The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar

The best promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.

Most installments came out over a mere half-decade between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.

Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun work on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace a new entry following the classic?

“Our team believed those games could be like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue with new generations.”