The Roccat company, 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. The products will be marketed as “Turtle Beach” in the future.
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The transition happens suddenly and without prior notice. Roccat’s previous website redirects to the Turtle Beach homepage. There you will find an FAQ, which describes the transition quite briefly. Nothing will change for existing customers; Turtle Beach also wants to continue support. The product lines will be continued under the well-known brands such as Kone for mice and Vulcan for keyboards.
“Swarm II” software is being redeveloped.
There will be changes primarily to the “Swarm” software, which, among other things, can be used to configure keyboard assignments and other settings for Roccat’s input devices. It was often criticized for its complicated operation and old-fashioned look. According to Turtle Beach, there will be a “Swarm II” that has been completely redeveloped in the spring of 2024. This version is intended to work with new devices and “select Roccat products.” The company itself describes this as “confusing” and refers to its download page, where the previous Swarm is still available. But you shouldn’t hope for further development or bug fixes anymore.
In its 17 years of existence, Roccat had developed a good reputation, especially among German players. The numerous mice in the “Kone” series were particularly popular with MMO gamers and shooter fans because they often offered innovative button layouts and were usually cheaper compared to industry giants such as Logitech or Razer. Roccat also supported an e-sports team from the beginning, but it disbanded in 2018. Roccat products were well represented in retail and by mail order companies, where they can still be found under their previous name.
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