Marking two decades since the legendary game first launched in North America, providing players everywhere the opportunity to become rock legends. Not literally, but try convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break in front of a packed living-room audience.
Created by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of an authentic live show.
The studio previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, which was acquired by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for a surprising billion-dollar franchise which made a significant influence for many musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to millions of younger players.
Michael Dornbrook, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.
“We rerecorded all the music since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the necessary permissions by themselves, it proved extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales and radio play increased, all artists desired to participate.”
He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents reached out expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they loved. It became an intergenerational thing.”
Classic Rock Finds a New Audience
Northern Irish group the Answer had Never Too Late on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist remembers the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, but then when it was featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it was cool. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”
At that time, the band's first record was still not available in the US, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on a North American tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.
Rock’s Heavyweight Titles and Lasting Impact
Rock’s biggest acts soon capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and related stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, 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 Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% at a time when the music business was already collapsing.
Guitar Hero still motivates quick-handed dedication among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved 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 no-cost alternative with similar mechanics and extensive personalization features. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed while hitting a single one of its near 4,000 notes. The streamer claimed it took months of practice of practice.
“Guitar Hero offers a, imaginary experience. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” says musician the artist.
The band previously completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember our distributors calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”
Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it has threatened to overshadow everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique path in music and I’m glad we’ve been part of people’s lives”.
Enduring Impact of a Iconic Controller
The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a music icon on the stage. From day one, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.
The majority of Guitar Hero games were released in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, featuring derivative titles such as DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.
Games like Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, and there’s set to be a new product from the founders on the way. A new studio has entered production on their first music game. The initial creators are participating in advisory roles. Is the world prepared to welcome another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?
“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to continue for future fans.”
