Guitar Hero Celebrates 20 Years – How a Plastic Axe Bridged the Gap Among Rock Generations

Marking two decades since the legendary game first launched across the Atlantic, giving players everywhere the tools to become rock legends. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that someone who's mastered Free Bird’s lengthy instrumental break before a packed crowd of friends.

Developed by the developers, the game provided users with a guitar-shaped controller to follow on-screen cues moving along the screen synchronized to a song. Each riff corresponded to particular chords, producing the feel of a genuine live show.

The studio previously tried its hand with rhythm games prior to teaming up with the publisher, which was acquired by Activision in 2006. Collaboratively, they established the groundwork for a surprising massively profitable franchise that had a remarkable impact for many musicians included, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of younger players.

A former executive, ex-chief operating officer from the developer, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the recordings – despite the fact initial releases mostly used cover versions.

“We reproduced all the music since the cost prohibitive,” he explains. “Despite having the necessary permissions alone, it proved extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – RedOctane was operating on a shoestring budget, and our team was pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, album purchases and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to be in.”

He adds: “Among the remarkable aspects was how many mothers and fathers got in touch and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Finds a New Audience

Northern Irish group the Answer had their track in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls the way the game brought older hits back into vogue: “Guitar Hero provided a bigger, new demographic. Generally this had been considered music that was past it, but then once it got included in the title young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated tag. It gave our catalog renewed popularity.”

In 2008, the Answer’s debut album remained unreleased in the US, meaning Guitar Hero was a key medium of discovery for the band during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “Their crew were playing Never Too Late on the tour bus, and some of them recognized us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.

Major Band Spin-offs and Lasting Impact

Rock’s heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the game's success, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated spin-off titles centered around each band’s catalogue and associated lore, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the group more money compared to their studio albums. It moved more than 500,000 copies in its first week, while demand for their songs saw an increase significantly at a time as the industry was already collapsing.

Guitar Hero continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism within the community. Recently, a streamer achieved an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by Guitar Hero – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with almost identical mechanics but an array of customisation options. This track is challenging even in expert mode, let alone played at increased tempo while hitting a single one of the thousands of cues. They stated requiring nine months of practice.

“The game offers a, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to use actual weapons and enlist,” says musician Herman Li.

DragonForce had already wrapped up a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into widely recognized. “I recall the record label calling to tell me that our records were moving like crazy,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”

In fact, DragonForce’s exposure via the game was so immense that it threatened to eclipsing everything else the band has done. Recently, the song was used in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought differently, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own path in music and I'm pleased we’ve been part of people’s lives”.

Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar

Top-tier marketing, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, goes further mere transactions – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “Precisely what we were trying to create,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. Since the beginning, the creators felt that humans have a natural human desire to create songs, and their goal was to use technology to enable everyone to participate”.

Most of Guitar Hero games came out in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring spin-offs like the DJ version, including a spinning deck, and Band Hero. After that, corporate focus on peripherals died down, except for a short-lived revival in 2015.

Games such as the fan project and Fortnite Festival have kept the community alive, and there’s set to be a new product from the original publisher in development. A new studio has begun production on their first music game. Original co-founders are both involved in advisory roles. Are gamers ready to embrace another game in the spirit of Guitar Hero?

“We thought such titles could be like Madden allowing annual releases,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. There’s no reason why it can’t persist with new generations.”