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Marking 20 years after Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing anyone who's nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.

Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.

The studio had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar series which made a significant influence on numerous of the artists included, introducing classic bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.

Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.

“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were fairly certain the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases airtime increased, everyone wanted to be in.”

He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for introducing their children to the songs they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans

Northern Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers how the series brought classic rock to the forefront: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then when it was included in the title and teenagers discovered it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ label. It gave all our music renewed popularity.”

In 2008, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group during their US tour supporting the rock giants. “Their crew had on Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact

Rock’s biggest acts soon took advantage of the game's success, with Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen starring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around their music collections and associated lore, imagery and legendary status. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their records. It moved well over half a million units upon release, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.

The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer stated it took nine months of practice.

“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and go to war,” notes DragonForce guitarist the artist.

The band previously completed a successful tour when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” 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 has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Recently, the track was used in promotional material for a major film. “In the past I felt otherwise, but now I accept it,” he admits. “If you only hear a single track, that's fine – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.

Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller

Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to harness this? “That’s exactly what we were trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to participate”.

Most installments came out in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.

Games such as the fan project and newer releases have maintained the community alive, with set to be something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?

“Our team believed those games could be like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks that it could be evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t continue for future fans.”