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It has been 20 years after the legendary game debuted in North America, giving players everywhere the tools to feel like a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who's mastered Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.

Created by Harmonix, Guitar Hero gave players a guitar-shaped controller to follow coloured notes scrolling down the display in time with the music. Every sequence corresponded to specific notes, producing the feel of an authentic live show.

The studio had already experimented with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Together, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar franchise which made a significant impact on numerous of the artists included, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.

Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the initial financial challenges of licensing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured rerecorded tracks.

“We reproduced every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it proved nearly impossible. We couldn’t get bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game took off, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”

He continues: “Among the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”

Timeless Music Gains a New Audience

Irish group the Answer included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician the artist recalls how the series revived classic rock back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Typically such music was considered music that was past it, however once it got featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. That legitimised the genre, eliminating the outdated label. It gave our catalog a new life.”

At that time, the band's debut album remained not available in the US, so the game served as a primary platform for exposure for the group as they went on US tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact

Rock’s heavyweight names soon took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated game editions centered around their music collections and related stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, the Aerosmith edition, it was said to have made the group greater revenue compared to their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 units upon release, while demand for Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry was already collapsing.

Guitar Hero still motivates nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of customisation options. The song is difficult even in the hardest setting, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated it took months of practice of practice.

“Guitar Hero offers a, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you should pick up a real gun and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.

DragonForce previously wrapped up a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames appeared in the third game, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label informing us that our selling albums rapidly,” he says. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero proved so vast that it threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the track was used in a trailer 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 – each person has a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we played a role of people’s lives”.

Enduring Legacy from the Iconic Controller

The best promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “That’s exactly what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “That thrill of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders felt that humans have a natural human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.

Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a half-decade from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a brief comeback several years later.

Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have maintained the scene active, with expectations of a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has entered production on their first rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Is the world ready to embrace a new entry in the spirit of Guitar Hero?

“Our team believed such titles could be like Madden where you can update every year,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music it could remain evergreen, so I’ve always been hopeful. It's entirely possible for it to persist with new generations.”