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It has been two decades after Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, giving players everywhere the opportunity to feel like rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has nailed Free Bird’s lengthy guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.

Developed by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen in time with the music. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.

Harmonix had already experimented in the music genre before partnering with the publisher, which was purchased by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for an unlikely massively profitable franchise which made a remarkable influence on numerous of the artists featured, showcasing classic groups to millions of younger players.

A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the initial financial challenges in securing the songs – despite the fact the first two games primarily featured rerecorded tracks.

“We rerecorded every song since the cost prohibitive,” he says. “Even with the necessary permissions by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure acts such as the Who – RedOctane had virtually no money, and our team was fairly certain it would fail. However, when the game became a hit, and record sales airtime were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”

He continues: “Among the amazing things was how many parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into an intergenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Gains Younger Fans

Irish group the Answer included Never Too Late on the 2008 game the popular installment. Lead musician the artist recalls the way the game revived older hits to the forefront: “Guitar Hero offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, however once it got featured on the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated the genre, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It gave all our music a new life.”

At that time, the band's first record was still not available in the US, so Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the group as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and some of them knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Influence

Rock’s biggest acts soon 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 related lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the group greater revenue than any of their studio albums. It sold well over 500,000 units in its first week, while sales of their songs saw an increase of up to 40% during an era when the music business faced decline.

The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – a notoriously difficult power-metal song made popular by the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging enough on expert mode, not to mention performed at double speed and without missing every one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring nine months to accomplish.

“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with other games, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and enlist,” says DragonForce guitarist the artist.

The band had already completed a profitable run when their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that we were records were moving like crazy,” he says. “Popularity surged on the subsequent tour, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”

In fact, the band's visibility via the game proved so vast that it threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I felt otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” he admits. “Should you just listen to a single track, that's fine – each person has 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 marketing, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or video games, extends beyond mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team trying to create,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star in the spotlight. From day one, the co-founders felt that there’s an instinctive urge to make music, and they wanted to use technology to allow people to do it”.

Most installments were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. Subsequently, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.

Titles such as Clone Hero and Fortnite Festival have maintained the community alive, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun work on its debut rhythm-based title. Original co-founders are participating in advisory roles. Are gamers prepared to welcome another game following the classic?

“We thought those games might become like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much fresh tracks it could remain perennially popular, so I’ve always been optimistic. There’s no reason why it can’t continue for future fans.”