It has been two decades since the legendary game first launched in North America, providing everyday gamers the tools to become a rock star. Not in reality, but try telling that anyone who's nailed Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed crowd of friends.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the display synchronized to a song. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, creating the feel of a genuine performance.
The studio previously tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable impact on numerous of the artists included, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were fairly certain it would fail. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales airtime increased, everyone wanted to participate.”
He adds: “One of the remarkable aspects was how many parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Timeless Music Finds a New Audience
Irish group one featured act included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist remembers how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, but then when it was featured on the game young people discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's debut album was still unreleased in the US, so the game was a key medium for exposure for the band during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies had on the song during travel, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Major Band Titles and Lasting Impact
Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band greater revenue compared to their records. It sold well over 500,000 copies in its first week, while demand for their songs saw an increase significantly at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer completed a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of personalization features. This track is challenging enough on expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. They stated it took nine months 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 go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band previously wrapped up a profitable run when their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label informing us that we were selling albums like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it risked overshadow everything else accomplishments. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of performing as a music icon on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators believed humans have a natural urge to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
The majority installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, complete with a turntable controller, and Band Hero. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, except for a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered work on their first music game. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?
“Our team believed such titles could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist for future fans.”
