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Marking two decades since Guitar Hero debuted in North America, giving players everywhere the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.

Created by the developers, the game gave players a guitar-shaped controller to match on-screen cues moving along the display in time with a song. Each riff mimicked particular chords, creating the feel of an authentic performance.

Harmonix had already experimented with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable impact for many musicians included, showcasing classic bands to a new generation of younger players.

Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.

“We reproduced every song because the cost was so high,” he explains. “Even with the necessary permissions alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to be in.”

He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the music they adored. It became a multigenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Gains a New Audience

Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived older hits to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, new demographic. Typically such music was seen as outdated material, however when it was featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the outdated label. It provided our catalog a new life.”

At that time, the Answer’s debut album was still not available stateside, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the group during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing the song during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence

Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 units in its first week, and sales of their songs rose significantly during an era when the music business faced decline.

Guitar Hero continues to inspire nimble-fingered fanaticism within the community. Recently, an online personality completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay and extensive personalization features. This track is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.

“The game offers a, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says musician the artist.

DragonForce had already wrapped up a profitable run before Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I recall our distributors informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we were playing right ahead of top acts at the event.”

Indeed, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it risked overshadow all other accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.

The Lasting Legacy from the Plastic Guitar

The best marketing, be it for cars, apparel or video games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “Precisely 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 there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.

The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest on peripherals waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.

Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community active, and there’s set to be something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered production on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are both involved as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?

“Our team believed such titles might become similar to sports games allowing annual update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”