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Marking 20 years since Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, offering everyday gamers the opportunity to become rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.

Created by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match coloured notes moving along the display in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, creating the sensation of an authentic live show.

Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre prior to teaming up with the publisher, later purchased by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable series that had a significant influence on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing classic bands to millions of younger players.

A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.

“We reproduced all the music since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like the Who – the publisher had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain the project would flop. But once the game took off, album purchases and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”

He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for introducing their children to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”

Timeless Music Gains a New Audience

Northern Irish group one featured act included their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist Paul Mahon recalls how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, but then when it was included in the game young people were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated label. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”

In 2008, the band's first record was still not available in the US, so Guitar Hero was a key medium for exposure for the group as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing the song during travel, and some of them recognized us thanks to the game,” Mahon says.

Major Band Titles Enduring Influence

Music's biggest acts soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on each band’s catalogue and related lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the group more money than any of their records. It moved more than 500,000 copies in its first week, while sales of their songs rose of up to 40% at a time as the industry was already collapsing.

Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging even in expert mode, not to mention performed at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring months of practice of practice.

“The game is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up a real gun and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.

The band previously completed a successful tour before their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors informing us that our records were moving rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”

Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own path in music and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar

Top-tier marketing, be it for cars, clothes or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to use technology to allow people to do it”.

Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs like the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a short-lived revival several years later.

Titles such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene alive, with set to be something from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun work on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following the classic?

“We thought those games might become similar to sports games where you can update every year,” he remarks. “With abundant new music it could remain perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t continue with new generations.”