From personal experience, I can confirm that SteelSeries is currently one of the best things you can buy for your arcade machines. It is no coincidence that 20 years of innovation, inspired and focused on real players, are behind the success of this brand. Early on, SteelSeries focused on professional sports and their increased demands for precision and reliability in gaming equipment.
It all started with a piece of ice
Jacob Wolf-Petersen (also known as JWP), the future founder of SteelSerie in Copenhagen, Denmark, was an avid Counter-Strike player and aspiring entrepreneur in 2001. Counter Strike itself was in its infancy at the time, having premiered in 2000. At that time, all PC players had a common problem: their then “ball” mice in their tracking mechanics very easily accumulated dust, which then led to mechanical unreliability and inaccuracy of aiming, or immediately to short control failures.
Thus was born the Icemat, the first glass mat designed to play with the utmost precision, sought after by first-person shooter players. At that time, no one but professional players really thought about these things, so JWP turned to their product along with them. At the time, Pajama Ninja and Team 3D were two up-and-coming teams of sports players. In general, the whole sport at that time was in its infancy, so it was a small and marginal pastime. In any case, players confirmed their disappointment as they traveled to different LAN parties, their mice and mats accumulated dust, or that the hardware behaved differently (un)reliably at each event.
Icemat glass solved these problems. Professional players began to take her to tournament matches, including the then CPL Counter-Strike World Championship. JWP and early SteelSeries employees attended the event and also sold Icemats directly at the event. The sensation of the tournament happened when Team 3D won the tournament on this equipment. Thus began working with teams of professional players, who brought more winnings from SteelSeries equipment than any other brand.
SteelSeries equipment has earned more awards in the sport than any other brand of equipment.
In its business, JWP has worked with Tino Solberg, chief technology officer (CTO) of SteelSeries. They first met in 1999 while working on various web projects. Tino had a small development agency, JWP had several online stores. For several years now, they have been building various projects together: mobile entertainment, market research sites, and so on. From 2001 to 2003, SteelSeries (then known as Icemat/Steelpad) was just one of them. Eventually, however, they sold everything else and focused exclusively on SteelSeries.
The first gaming headset in history
The scope of the company has gradually expanded to many other types of accessories. In 2003, an agreement was reached with Microsoft whereby their then-current Intellimouse was distributed in a box with an Icemat. On the one hand, it has expanded SteelSeries’ distribution contacts, but has mainly launched its own series of mice. These first mice, named Ikari, Kana or Sensei, were developed in collaboration with professional CS players to meet their high demands.
The first mice were developed in collaboration with professional gamers.
In 2004, in addition to the first mice, SteelSeries also released the world’s first gaming headset, the Siberia. The microphone has been attached to the unique comfortable earpieces so that players can talk comfortably even during many hours of play. This breakthrough has helped establish SteelSeries as a true pioneer in sports gaming accessories.
In 2007, an application was launched to support SteelSeries hardware called the SteelSeries Engine. In addition, partnerships have been established with sports and gaming companies such as Blizzard, EA, Gunnar, Valve, MSI and many more. SteelSeries’ roots are deeply rooted in PC gaming, so the brand’s policy will always be “PC first,” but the company has gradually added hardware for console gamers to its portfolio in an effort to support gamers wherever and whatever they choose to play. . . In terms of expansion, in 2020 SteelSeries acquired A-Volute, the audio software company Nahimic, as well as the American game controller specialist GameFreak.
A tradition of close collaboration with progaming
From concept to appearance and testing, validation or continuous evaluation of already used products, programmers have always been employees and collaborators of SteelSeries. For example, the Ikari laser mouse is the result of 15 months of extensive research into ergonomics, technology, shape, movement, hand grip and play style by professional gamers from SK Gaming, Team 3D, compLexity, mousesports and Team NoA. This early collaboration helped SteelSeries proudly state that “professional players have won more money with SteelSeries than with any other brand.” In 2006, SteelSeries equipment was used by seven of the top ten FPS esports teams in the world.
SteelSeries hardware has been used by 7 of the top 10 FPS esports teams in the world.
Finally, neckband headphone audio optimization was achieved with the help of Abdisamad “SpawN” Mohamed, 12-time Counter-Strike Champion. SteelSeries is committed to making their collaboration with professional players more than just sponsorship – the goal is a mutually beneficial partnership. To this day, the company develops and tests its products with the most demanding professional players to make sure they satisfy every player. OG have won international Dota 2 championships several times in a row, but for SteelSeries it is equally important that their tools help improve and make the game more enjoyable for “regular” players, even though sports are at the heart of everything they do. produce.
40 patents: focus on innovation
SteelSeries focuses on maximizing product quality and durability without sacrificing simple, modern design. Each button, switch, material, or key is created with all possible use cases in mind. The goal is for gaming accessories to be as “an extended part of the player’s body” as possible. The QcK series of mouse pads was introduced in 2004 after 750 different types of textiles were tested, each tested for long-term stress.
Since then, SteelSeries has also introduced the first gaming mechanical keyboard, the first “hanging head bend” for more comfortable wearing of gaming headsets, or the first World of Warcraft mouse, among many other innovations. The goal is to push the boundaries of professional gaming with every product. During the first twenty years of its existence, the company will register more than 40 patents, which will make the game even more interesting and exciting. Of course, this effort also includes failed attempts, such as the Icemat Audio MP3 player at the turn of the century. But failure is an opportunity to rethink your own assumptions and learn more about what professional and amateur players do, need, and want.
Road to glory
From the very beginning, SteelSeries had a clear goal: to offer equipment for the most demanding customers, for real players. From the very beginning, the slogan of the company was “Victory is everything”, which to this day remains one of the pillars of corporate values. While a lot has changed in these 20 years, SteelSeries continues to focus on ways to improve the gaming experience and performance of their products. In the beginning, it was only FPS players like Counter Strike or Quake, and although today the company offers hardware for all game genres and platforms, focusing on the FPS community remains a heartfelt interest for them.
The first 20 years of existence of SteelSeries were marked by innovations, numerous innovations and intensive cooperation with the world sports arena, which has grown significantly since then. We’ll see what the next 20 years will look like, but it’s clear that SteelSeries will continue to push the boundaries for players, their hardware, and performance. As they often say in their ads, “In games, you can be anyone, so why be ordinary? Follow the glory and wish for the best.”
The current range of products in the Czech Republic can be found here.
The official SteelSeries website is here.
Source :Indian TV
