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It has been 20 years after Guitar Hero debuted in North America, providing players everywhere the opportunity to become a rock star. Not in reality, though you'd be hard-pressed telling that anyone who's mastered Free Bird’s four-minute instrumental break before an enthusiastic living-room audience.

Created by Harmonix, the game gave players a plastic guitar peripheral to follow coloured notes scrolling down the screen synchronized to a song. Every sequence mimicked specific notes, creating the feel of a genuine performance.

Harmonix previously tried its hand in the music genre before partnering with RedOctane, which was acquired by the gaming giant in 2006. Collaboratively, they laid the foundations for a surprising billion-dollar series which made a remarkable influence for many of the artists included, introducing decades-old groups to a new generation of gaming enthusiasts.

A former executive, ex-chief operating officer of Harmonix, remembers the early budgetary hurdles in securing the recordings – even though the first two games mostly used rerecorded tracks.

“We rerecorded every song since the dollar figure was so high,” he says. “Despite having the publishing rights by themselves, it was extremely difficult. We couldn’t get bands like the Who – the publisher was operating on a shoestring budget, and we were pretty convinced it would fail. But once the game took off, and record sales airtime increased, all artists desired to be in.”

He adds: “Among the amazing things was the number of mothers and fathers reached out and thanked us for exposing their kids to the songs they loved. It evolved into a multigenerational thing.”

Timeless Music Finds a New Audience

Irish group one featured act included Never Too Late in the 2008 release Guitar Hero World Tour. Lead musician Paul Mahon recalls how the series brought older hits back into vogue: “The game provided a larger, younger audience. Generally such music was seen as outdated material, but then once it got featured on the game and teenagers discovered it, suddenly it became trendy. This validated it, eliminating the outdated tag. It provided all our music renewed popularity.”

In 2008, the band's debut album was still not available stateside, meaning the game served as a primary platform of discovery for the group as they went on US tour supporting the rock giants. “The roadies had on Never Too Late on the tour bus, and several knew us from Guitar Hero,” Mahon says.

Major Band Spin-offs Enduring Influence

Music's heavyweight names quickly took advantage of the series’ popularity, with Aerosmith, Metallica and others starring in dedicated spin-off titles that focused on their music collections and associated stories, visuals and rock’n’roll mythology. For example, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, reportedly earned the band greater revenue than any of their records. It sold more than 500,000 units in its first week, and sales of Aerosmith’s music saw an increase of up to 40% during an era as the industry faced decline.

The series continues to inspire nimble-fingered dedication within the community. Earlier this year, an online personality completed an impressive attempt of DragonForce’s the challenging track – an infamously tough power-metal song popularized through the game – using a fan-made version, a no-cost alternative with almost identical gameplay but an array of personalization features. The song is challenging enough on the hardest setting, not to mention played at increased tempo while hitting every one of the thousands of cues. They claimed requiring nine months of practice.

“Guitar Hero is a fun, fantasy thing. Just as with Call of Duty, that doesn’t mean you ought to pick up actual weapons and go to war,” notes musician Herman Li.

DragonForce had already completed a successful tour when Through the Fire and Flames was featured in the third game, yet he explains it turned them into a household name. “I recall the record label informing us that we were 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, the band's visibility from Guitar Hero was so immense that it has threatened to eclipsing all other the band has done. Recently, the track featured in promotional material for Despicable Me 4. “Previously I thought otherwise, but I’ve made peace with it,” Li says. “If you only hear one DragonForce song, that's fine – everyone’s got a unique musical journey and I'm pleased we’ve been part in fans' experiences”.

Enduring Legacy from the Plastic Guitar

The best promotion, whether it’s for cars, clothes or games, goes further than selling something – it evokes a longing. Did Guitar Hero harness this? “That’s exactly what our team aiming to achieve,” he confirms. “That thrill of being a rock star on the stage. From day one, the creators felt that there’s an instinctive human desire to make music, and they wanted to leverage innovation to allow people to do it”.

The majority installments came out in just a five-year period between 2005 and 2010, including spin-offs such as DJ Hero, including a turntable controller, and the band-focused game. After that, the publisher’s interest in plastic instruments waned, except for a brief comeback several years later.

Games such as Clone Hero and newer releases have maintained the scene active, and there’s expectations of something from the original publisher in development. Recently formed developers has begun production on its debut music game. The initial creators are participating as special advisers. Are gamers ready to embrace another game following Guitar Hero?

“We thought those games might become like Madden where you can releases,” Dornbrook says. “With abundant fresh tracks that it could be perennially popular, thus I remain optimistic. There’s no reason for it to continue for future fans.”