User:Adam/sandbox1

In terms of number of players, it is one of the most popular rhythm games. ❌

Development
Osu! was conceived by Dean Herbert, an Australian developer known online as "peppy", as a port of ''Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents.'' One of his goals was to create longevity through enabling users to generate beatmaps. Herbert had experience creating video games prior to Osu!, having made some during high school and university, but has said he did not think it would become his job. He began developing Osu! while attending university and had a working build of the game after a few hours, which he shared with friends. It was written in C using the XNA framework. The game's first public release was on 16 September 2007, and an open beta was officially available starting on 17 October. Due to the game's growth in popularity as well as user feedback, Herbert later added the extra game modes osu!mania, osu!taiko, and osu!catch. After releasing Osu!, Herbert, who had been working full-time for an IT company, gradually reduced his work hours to focus on maintaining Osu!. According to Herbert, as of a July 2014 interview for the official Osu! YouTube channel, the user interface of the game client and official website were undergoing full "revamps". In the same interview, he expressed interest or intentions to add major features to the game, such as a multiplayer power-up system inspired by Ouendan and TetriNET, 3D rotation of the field of play,  and expanded multiplayer lobbies.

bleh
Osu! works on a model of community-generated beatmaps, which has been cited as a signifcant factor in the game's popularity and longevity. A large portion of the available music consists of songs from anime —the game itself is aimed at foreign fans of Japanese culture and is influenced by it, particularly due to its inspiration from Ouendan and the general proliferation and association of rhythm games in Japan during the 1990s. Osu! has been noted for encouraging the use of unique input devices—although the game can be played with a computer mouse, it is often recommended to use a graphics tablet with a pen, which more closely emulates the gameplay of Ouendan. The accessibility of using a mouse and keyboard is another reason given for the game's popularity. Keyboard manufacturer Wooting announced in March 2023 a three-key keyboard dedicated to playing Osu! due to the popularity of their keyboards among the game's players.

Osu! World Cup is an annual tournament which comprises a group stage and bracket of the 32 highest-seeded national teams in the world, generally with 6 to 8 players on each team. There are also many community-hosted tournaments, differing in skill level, types of beatmaps played, and how the teams are composed.