RedOctane was founded in 1999 by Kai Huang and Charles Huang and is best known for its Guitar Hero games. During August 1999, they began operation as the world's first online video game rental service. In 2000 the company expanded into premium video game accessories, starting first with the RedOctane dance mat which the existing products at the time. They would later become better known for the Ignition dance pads and other video game accessories including arcade joysticks, drums, and guitars for existing music games.