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Marking two decades after Guitar Hero hit the market in North America, providing players everywhere the means to become rock legends. Figuratively speaking, though you'd be hard-pressed convincing someone who has mastered Free Bird’s four-minute guitar solo in front of a packed living-room audience.

Developed by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues moving along the screen synchronized to the music. Each riff mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of a genuine live show.

Harmonix had already tried its hand with rhythm games before partnering with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they laid the groundwork for an unlikely billion-dollar franchise which made a significant impact for many musicians featured, introducing decades-old bands to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.

A former executive, former COO of Harmonix, recalls the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though the first two games primarily featured cover versions.

“We reproduced every song since the dollar figure prohibitive,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights alone, it was nearly impossible. We couldn’t get acts such as legendary groups – RedOctane had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once Guitar Hero took off, and record sales and radio play were going up, everyone wanted to participate.”

He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they adored. It evolved into an intergenerational phenomenon.”

Classic Rock Finds Younger Fans

Northern Irish group one featured act had Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon remembers how the series revived older hits back into vogue: “The game offered a bigger, new demographic. Typically this had been seen as music that was past it, but then once it got featured on the title young people discovered it, suddenly it was cool. This validated it, and got rid of the ‘dad rock’ tag. It provided all our music a new life.”

At that time, the Answer’s first record remained not available in the US, so Guitar Hero served as a primary platform for exposure for the band during their a North American tour supporting AC/DC. “The roadies were playing Never Too Late during travel, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” he notes.

Rock’s Heavyweight Spin-offs and Lasting Influence

Music's heavyweight names quickly capitalised on the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in specialized spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and associated stories, visuals and legendary status. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly earned the band more money than any of their records. It sold well over 500,000 copies in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music rose 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, an online personality achieved a remarkable feat of DragonForce’s Through the Fire and Flames – an infamously tough power-metal song made popular by the game – on Clone Hero, a freeware game with similar mechanics but an array of personalization features. The song is difficult even in expert mode, not to mention played at double speed and without missing a single one of the thousands of cues. They claimed it took nine months to accomplish.

“Guitar Hero is a fun, imaginary experience. Just as with Call of Duty, it doesn't imply you ought to pick up a real gun and go to war,” notes musician the artist.

DragonForce had already completed a successful tour before Through the Fire and Flames appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it made them widely recognized. “I remember the record label calling to tell me that we were records were moving rapidly,” he shares. “Popularity surged when we next toured, and we performed right ahead of the headliners at the event.”

Indeed, the band's visibility via the game was so immense that it threatened to overshadow all other the band has done. Recently, the track featured in a trailer for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – each person has their own musical journey and I’m glad we played a role of people’s lives”.

The Lasting Impact of a Plastic Guitar

Top-tier promotion, be it for automobiles, clothes or video games, goes further mere transactions – it inspires a desire. Was the game able to tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “The excitement of being a rock star in the spotlight. Since the beginning, the co-founders believed there’s an instinctive human desire to create songs, and they wanted to leverage innovation to enable everyone to participate”.

The majority installments were released in just a five-year period from 2005 to 2010, featuring derivative titles such as DJ Hero, complete with a spinning deck, and Band Hero. Subsequently, corporate focus in plastic instruments died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.

Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher on the way. Recently formed developers has entered production on their first music game. The initial creators are both involved as special advisers. Is the world prepared to welcome a new entry following the classic?

“Our team believed those games could be similar to sports games where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant 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.”