Marking two decades after Guitar Hero first launched across the Atlantic, providing everyday gamers the tools to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.
Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the display synchronized to the music. Every sequence corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine performance.
The studio had already experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising massively profitable series that had a remarkable impact for many of the artists included, introducing classic groups to millions of gaming enthusiasts.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO from the developer, recalls the early financial challenges of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.
“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, everyone wanted to be in.”
He continues: “One of the amazing things was how many mothers and fathers got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Irish group one featured act had their track in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, younger audience. Typically such music was considered outdated material, but then once it got included in the title and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”
In 2008, the band's first record was still unreleased stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour opening for the rock giants. “The roadies were playing the song on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Influence
Rock’s biggest acts quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized game editions centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band more money than any of their studio albums. It sold more than 500,000 units upon release, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Earlier this year, an online personality completed a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult power-metal song popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention performed at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed it took months of practice to accomplish.
“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician the artist.
The band had already completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing just before the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Last year, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.
The Lasting Impact from the Plastic Guitar
Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators felt that humans have a natural urge to create songs, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.
Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, corporate focus in plastic instruments waned, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.
Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene alive, with expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has entered production on its debut music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome a new entry following Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games might become like Madden where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain evergreen, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to continue with new generations.”
