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It has been two decades since the legendary game debuted across the Atlantic, providing players everywhere the means to feel like rock legends. Not literally, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who has nailed Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before a packed crowd of friends.

Created by Harmonix, the game provided users with a plastic guitar peripheral to match on-screen cues scrolling down the screen in time with a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, producing the sensation of an authentic performance.

Harmonix previously experimented in the music genre prior to teaming up with RedOctane, later purchased by Activision during the mid-2000s. Collaboratively, they established the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar franchise that had a remarkable impact for many of the artists included, showcasing classic bands to millions of gaming enthusiasts.

Michael Dornbrook, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early financial challenges in securing the songs – even though initial releases primarily featured cover versions.

“We rerecorded every song because the dollar figure prohibitive,” he explains. “Even with the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We failed to secure bands like legendary groups – the publisher had virtually no money, and we were pretty convinced the project would flop. However, when Guitar Hero became a hit, and record sales and radio play were going up, all artists desired to participate.”

He adds: “One of the amazing things was the number of parents got in touch expressing gratitude for exposing their children to the music they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”

Classic Rock Finds a New Audience

Northern Irish blues-rock band one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release the popular installment. Guitarist Paul Mahon remembers the way the game revived classic rock to the forefront: “The game offered a bigger, younger audience. Generally such music was considered music that was past it, however once it got featured on the game and teenagers were finding it, abruptly it became trendy. This validated it, and got rid of the outdated label. It provided our catalog renewed popularity.”

In 2008, the Answer’s first record was still unreleased in the US, so the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the band during their US tour opening for the rock giants. “Their crew had on the song during travel, and some of them knew us thanks to the game,” he notes.

Rock’s Heavyweight Titles Enduring Impact

Music's biggest acts quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, including bands like Aerosmith, Metallica and Van Halen featuring in dedicated game editions that focused on each band’s catalogue and associated stories, imagery and rock’n’roll mythology. In the case of, the Aerosmith edition, reportedly to have made the band more money compared to their studio albums. It moved well over half a million units in its first week, while sales of Aerosmith’s music rose significantly at a time as the industry faced decline.

The series continues to inspire quick-handed fanaticism among its fans. Recently, an online personality achieved an impressive attempt featuring the challenging track – an infamously tough anthem popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a freeware game with similar gameplay and extensive customisation options. This track is challenging enough on expert mode, let alone performed at increased tempo and without missing every one of its near 4,000 notes. They claimed requiring nine months of practice.

“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. If you play other games, that doesn’t mean you should use actual weapons and go to war,” says DragonForce guitarist Herman Li.

The band previously completed a profitable run before their hit appeared on Guitar Hero III, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I recall our distributors informing us that our records were moving like crazy,” he says. “It exploded when we next toured, and we were playing right ahead of the headliners on the Mayhem festival.”

Indeed, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has threatened to eclipsing everything else accomplishments. Last year, the song was used in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “In the past I felt differently, but now I accept it,” Li says. “If you only listen to one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I’m glad we played a role in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Impact from the Plastic Guitar

Top-tier promotion, whether it’s for automobiles, clothes or games, extends beyond than selling something – it inspires a desire. Did Guitar Hero tap into that? “Precisely what we were aiming to achieve,” Dornbrook says. “The excitement of performing as a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and their goal was to leverage innovation to allow people to participate”.

Most installments were released over a mere five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including derivative titles such as the DJ version, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest on peripherals died down, aside from a brief comeback in 2015.

Titles such as the fan project and newer releases have kept the community active, with set to be something from the original publisher on the way. A new studio has begun work on their first rhythm-based title. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?

“We thought such titles might become like Madden allowing annual update every year,” Dornbrook says. “There’s so much new music that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain hopeful. It's entirely possible why it can’t persist for future fans.”