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Marking two decades after Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing everyday gamers the opportunity to become a rock star. Figuratively speaking, but try telling that someone who's nailed the epic four-minute instrumental break before a packed living-room audience.

Created by the developers, Guitar Hero gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine performance.

Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with the publisher, later acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable impact on numerous musicians featured, showcasing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.

A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the early budgetary hurdles of licensing the songs – despite the fact initial releases primarily featured cover versions.

“We reproduced all the music because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get acts such as the Who – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when the game became a hit, album purchases airtime were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”

He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their children to the songs they adored. It became an intergenerational thing.”

Timeless Music Gains a New Audience

Northern Irish group one featured act included their track on the 2008 game Guitar Hero World Tour. Guitarist the artist recalls the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, however once it got included in the title and teenagers were finding it, suddenly it was cool. That legitimised it, eliminating the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided our catalog a new life.”

In 2008, the Answer’s first record was still not available stateside, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform of discovery for the band as they went on US tour opening for AC/DC. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and several recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.

Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Impact

Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others featuring in specialized spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and legendary status. In the case of, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly to have made the band greater revenue compared to their records. It moved more than half a million copies upon release, and demand for their songs rose significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.

The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, a streamer achieved a remarkable feat featuring Through the Fire and Flames – a notoriously difficult anthem popularized through the game – on Clone Hero, a no-cost alternative with similar gameplay but an array of personalization features. This track is difficult even in expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. The streamer stated requiring nine months to accomplish.

“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” notes musician Herman Li.

DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour before their hit was featured on Guitar Hero III, but Li says it turned them into a household name. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our selling albums rapidly,” he shares. “It exploded when we next toured, and we performed just before top acts at the event.”

In fact, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it risked eclipsing everything else the band has done. Last year, the track was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I thought otherwise, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only listen to a single track, it’s totally cool – everyone’s got their own musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.

Enduring Legacy of a Plastic Guitar

The best promotion, be it for cars, apparel or video games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of performing as a music icon in the spotlight. From day one, the creators believed there’s an instinctive urge to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to do it”.

Most of Guitar Hero games were released over a mere five-year period from 2005 to 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, except for a short-lived revival several years later.

Titles like the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the scene active, and there’s set to be something from the founders on the way. Recently formed developers has begun 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?

“We thought such titles could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” he remarks. “There’s so much new music that it could be evergreen, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist with new generations.”