One of the Most Influential Games in Modern History Released 20 Years Ago Today

20 years ago today, Guitar Hero shook the gaming world and became an overnight sensation. While it wasn’t the first game to replicate the feeling of being a musician, it is arguably the most successful on a cultural and financial level. Launching on the PlayStation 2 before expanding in all sorts of other directions, Guitar Hero went from a kooky idea into a worldwide smash.

While major publishers initially passed on Guitar Hero, they were quick to try and replicate the success, even going so far as to buy out the companies that made it. While the game series itself eventually died out, the legacy of the series remains. Twenty years after it debuted, here’s how Guitar Hero briefly became the biggest thing in gaming.

How Guitar Hero Took Over The World

Debuting on the PlayStation 2 on November 8, 2005, Guitar Hero quickly became a global phenomenon. Guitar Hero was far from the first game to play with a musical approach to gameplay, with Konami’s Guitar Freaks helping inspire the concept. Meanwhile, titles like Dance Dance Revolution were phenoms in arcades and on the home market. Although the concept of a music game is an old one, the introduction of the iconic Guitar Hero controller was the key to the game’s success.

The iconic guitar controller and the rhythm game were a collaboration between controller designers RedOctane and game developers Harmonix. Physically resembling a Gibson SG electric guitar, the controller was designed specifically so that players could feel like they were replicating their favorite rock stars in the comfort of their home. Despite generating enough interest to raise the money to produce a prototype, various game publishers, including Acclaim, believed the necessity of a unique peripheral like the guitar would make it a hard sell for general audiences.

Instead, the guitar turned out to be the key to Guitar Hero‘s success, a unique selling point that quickly won over most people who played it. Critics at the time celebrated the strength of the guitar’s design, complimenting the tight rhythm game design to produce a one-of-a-kind experience. Average players were even more enamored by the concept, leading it to become a veritable smash on the PS2. The game earned $45 million in 2005 and only continued to grow from there.

Guitar Hero Was More Than Just A Game

The impact of Guitar Hero on popular culture can’t be understated. The series, which ultimately ran for ten years before it was shuttered, earned over $2 billion in worldwide sales. It inspired several imitators and rivals, including the Rock Band series by Guitar Hero developer Harmonix. It appeared in film and television and helped convince developers that niche peripherals could connect with broad audiences. This extended to the Nintendo Wii, helping set the stage for that console to become a hit.

Musicians saw their music explode with a new audience because of the fresh attention of fans who connected with the music through the game. Guitar Hero helped convince people to take up music themselves and served as a strong foundation for a generation of musicians. It even had positive effects on aspiring musicians and people going through physical therapy, with the act of playing the Guitar Hero peripheral having a positive effect on their mental development and overall coordination.

It was the rare game that didn’t just become a smash hit but genuinely seemed to have an impact on people’s lives, with the game even becoming a competitor with social activities like karaoke. The entire world was impacted by Guitar Hero‘s success in a way few other games have crossed over into the popular consciousness.

Whatever Happened To Guitar Hero?

Despite being a generational hit, Guitar Hero eventually disappeared from the public consciousness. Despite being an absolute smash, the game’s eventual expansions and sequels had ultimately diminishing results. Part of this is from sheer competition, with titles like Rock Band stealing thunder from Guitar Hero by expanding the concept to include other instruments and vocals. Part of it is the result of the weakening global economy of the late 2000’s, which impacted the gaming industry just as hard as it struck every other facet of regular life.

After the massive success of the first game, RedOctane and Harmonix were splintered and bought out by different studios. Harmonix moved on to make Rock Band, which quietly usurped Guitar Hero. Meanwhile, the Guitar Hero brand was diluted and spun off in all sorts of directions, eventually losing steam as the series was overplayed in short succession.

The series would get sequels and expansions for a while, with the final entry in the series, 2015’s Guitar Hero Live, landing with mixed critical reception and overall lackluster sales. Ultimately, the developer was sold off to Ubisoft, and the brand quietly died off. It was a surprisingly somber finale for the series that had been such an institution. However, the legacy of Guitar Hero still lives on, whether that be in fan-made games like Clone Hero or the musicians of today who got their first taste of music with the plastic guitar.