German hardware brand Roccat disappears

Roccat, founded in Hamburg in 2007, no longer exists. In 2019, the US company Turtle Beach took over Roccat, and almost exactly five years later, the brand is set to disappear. In future, the products will be marketed under the name "Turtle Beach".

The transition is happening suddenly and without prior notice. The previous Roccat website redirects to the Turtle Beach homepage. There you will find a FAQ that describes the transition quite briefly. Nothing will change for existing customers and Turtle Beach will continue to provide support. The product lines will continue under the well-known brands such as Kone for mice and Vulcan for keyboards.

Swarm II" software to be redeveloped.

The main changes will be to the "Swarm" software, which can be used to configure keyboard layouts and other settings for Roccat input devices. It has often been criticized for its cumbersome operation and old-fashioned look. According to Turtle Beach, there will be a "Swarm II" in spring 2024, which has been completely redeveloped. This version will work with new devices and "selected Roccat products". The company itself describes this as "confusing" and refers to its download page, where the previous Swarm is still available. However, one should probably no longer hope for further development or bug fixes.

In the 17 years of its existence, Roccat has built up a good reputation, especially among German gamers. The numerous mice in the "Kone" series were particularly popular with MMO gamers and fans of shooters because they often offered innovative button layouts and were usually cheaper than industry giants such as Logitech or Razer. Roccat also supported an e-sports team from the very beginning, but it disbanded in 2018. Roccat products were well represented in retail and mail order, where they can still be found under their previous name.

(nie)