SteelSeries (styled as steelseries) is a Danish manufacturer of gaming peripherals and accessories, including headsets, keyboards, mice, controllers, and mousepads. SteelSeries was acquired by GN Store Nord in 2021.

History

SteelSeries was founded in 2001 by Jacob Wolff-Petersen. The company's original name was Soft Trading, and it was changed to SteelSeries in 2007. Soft Trading made the Icemat and SteelPad mouse mats, which influenced the company's eventual name change. In 2008, SteelSeries acquired Ideazon, a North America-based developer and manufacturer of gaming peripherals. Michael von Essen-Mueller, the company's first CEO, helped the company establish its brand and grow to a global footprint. In 2007, SteelSeries hired Bruce Hawver as CEO. The company saw tremendous growth over the next five years as it expanded its portfolio and channels, developed the SteelSeries Engine platform, and added partnerships across the esports and the gaming ecosystem. In 2012, SteelSeries received investments of undisclosed amounts from U.S.-based private equity firm Catterton Partners and China-based private equity firm ClearVue Partners. Their popular products include their Rival and Sensei series of mice, Arctis headsets, and Apex keyboards. They also have made 5XL mousepads (QcK line). SteelSeries often creates limited edition collaborations, such as the Valve CS:GO Howl Edition mouse and mousepad, and the CD Projekt Cyberpunk 2077 headset. In July 2019, SteelSeries was acquired by Axcel, a Nordic private equity firm. In April 2020, SteelSeries acquired Nahimic audio software developer A-Volute, and in December 2020, SteelSeries acquired gaming accessory manufacturer KontrolFreek. In October 2021, GN Store Nord announced plans to acquire SteelSeries from Axcel for 8 billion DKK (about US$1.25 billion). The deal closed on January 12, 2022 officially making it a subsidiary.

Team and player sponsorships

SteelSeries supports a number of electronic sports teams and individuals through sponsorships and community support. Sponsored teams include FaZe Clan, Evil Geniuses, Vitality, EDward Gaming,

Alliance An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

, among others. Past sponsorships include Manuel "Grubby" Schenkhuizen and Tom "Tsquared" Taylor in 2011.

Partnerships

SteelSeries has held partnerships with major companies in the gaming industry, including

Blizzard Entertainment Blizzard Entertainment, Inc. is an American video game developer and video game publisher, publisher based in Irvine, California. A subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, the company was founded on February 8, 1991, under the name Silicon & Synapse, ...

Electronic Arts Electronic Arts Inc. (EA) is an American video game company headquartered in Redwood City, California. Founded in May 1982 by Apple employee Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer game industry and promoted th ...

, Hewlett-Packard (HP), Gunnar Optiks,

Valve A valve is a device or natural object that regulates, directs or controls the flow of a fluid (gases, liquids, fluidized solids, or slurries) by opening, closing, or partially obstructing various passageways. Valves are technically fitting ...

(

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporizat ...

), MSI, and Discord.

References

External links

* {{Official website, https://www.steelseries.com/ Danish companies established in 2001 Computer peripheral companies Computing input devices Manufacturing companies of Denmark Manufacturing companies based in Copenhagen Companies based in Frederiksberg Municipality Pointing devices