The strategy behind recent product launches at Kingston Technology Co.’s growing gaming unit is a simple one: visibility in the booming e-sports scene.
HyperX launched its first headset about three years ago, using its sponsored teams and players to endorse products, as well as getting them in the hands of Twitch.tv stars and influential gaming bloggers.
The headset business line has generated over $200 million since its April 2014 debut and should get another bump next month with the release of the high-end CloudX Revolver S, which will cost about $150.
The October release of its first keyboard, the $100 HyperX Alloy FPS Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, gave Kingston a product tailored for first-person shooter games. The company this month released two new versions, one with red backlit mechanical switches and the other in brown. It will release its first mouse in April, the Pulsefire Gaming Mouse, for about $50.
“The best thing to do was start with the headsets, because they’re the most visible,” spokesperson Mark Tekunoff told the Business Journal during a private demo in January at CES in Las Vegas, the world’s largest consumer electronics show. “The second most visible is the keyboard. Third is the mouse.”
Gaming gear is a relatively small but fast-growing revenue stream for Fountain Valley-based Kingston, the world’s largest memory products maker for computers and consumer electronics, with estimated 2016 revenue of $6.6 billion.
The new lineup of gaming accessories reflects years of feedback on shifts in style and design garnered from its sponsored e-sports teams—the company now has relationships with 30—and its own employees, who often serve as first testers.
The Revolver S headset is the brand’s first to feature Dolby 7.1 surround sound and four distinct equalizer settings for enhanced vocals and chatting purposes. It’s the eighth headset HyperX has launched under the new business line, which has shipped more than 2 million headsets.
The compact, steel-framed keyboards are meant to last, guaranteed for 50 million key strokes per switch. Keys are backlit with LEDs and feature six preset profiles, including a custom mode. Textured red keycaps are included to enhance control and feel, and sound a little quieter.
“We guinea-pigged the office with 40 of these things in the very beginning,” Tekunoff said. “It’s almost like they’re playing music with keyboards.”
Big motherboard makers, such as ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI, recently started to develop multicolored backlit circuit boards in a trend to “customize your rig,” gamer parlance for tricking out accessories.
“Just like headsets, everybody has a personal preference in switches in gaming,” Tekunoff said.
The same goes for the gaming mouse.
HyperX’s first version will meet the rigors and speed demands of pro gamers, measured in dots per inch—essentially a gauge of sensitivity.
The mouse’s technical specs will be released closer to launch date, according to the company.
Wear and tear, emblematic of the furious style of competitive gaming, is rarely the cause of a product’s demise, though, according to Tekunoff.
The top culprits: slamming the device against the ground, on a table, or against a wall in frustration.
