Turtle Beach abolishes the old and popular German brand Roccat and replaces all products with its own name. MyMMO editor Benedikt Schlotmann is shocked that the brand is disappearing just like that. Because he has many memories associated with the products that have accompanied him for years.
The Roccat GmbH, founded in 2006, specialized in mice, keyboards, and mouse pads. The brand became known mainly for its playfulness and the cat logo that adorned the hardware.
In 2019, the company was acquired by Turtle Beach Corporation and continued to operate as an independent brand.
Now Turtle Beach is permanently abolishing the brand “Roccat”: Roccat no longer exists and the old products will be integrated into the official portfolio of Turtle Beach. This is stated by Turtle Beach on its official website.
The company justifies this by saying that “time and resources are best spent focusing on a single brand.”
For me, this means not just the disappearance of a widely purchased manufacturer, but also a piece of German “history.”
A piece of German hardware completely disappears from the market
Roccat has accompanied me personally quite faithfully and reliably over the past years. My first Roccat products, the Roccat Isku (keyboard) and the Roccat Savu (mouse), were under the Christmas tree back then, and they have accompanied me daily since then.
Later, I bought my Kone AIMO Remastered, which I still consider to be the best Roccat product and one of the best gaming mice. I still find the ergonomics unmatched.
Then came the gaming keyboard Vulcan Aimo 121, which I bought as a replacement for an old device. It’s no coincidence that in 2021, I stated in an article that the Vulcan AIMO 121 was the best keyboard for gaming and office for me.
As great as all of this sounds, I didn’t just collect good memories with the manufacturer. And anyone who, like me, has purchased Roccat products for years knows a few problems as well:
- The software of the Roccat Isku was always pretty terrible over the years.
- The mouse wheel of the Kone AIMO Remastered eventually let me down and didn’t turn correctly anymore.
- The Vulcan series had problems with key coating for years. I was lucky back then and got a model without issues.
- The “Swarm” software felt outdated, but usually worked flawlessly.
Still, it’s mainly good memories that I associate with the German brand “Roccat.” That’s why it pains me that Turtle Beach is simply phasing out and making the old brand with the “cat” disappear. After all, it is, in its own way, a piece of German hardware history that is now disappearing for good.
What happens next? Roccat is gone and that honestly shocked and surprised me. The website is already offline and redirects to the official Turtle Beach page. However, the old products are still being sold. Sooner or later, though, the old symbols and logos will also disappear from the new products.
However, I see it as much more problematic that Turtle Beach intends to replace the old Swarm software with a new version.
Here it reads quite flat:
We have developed a completely new Swarm II, which will be introduced in spring 2024 for new Turtle Beach PC products as well as for selected ROCCAT products (also continued under the Turtle Beach brand).
But this also means that not all old products will be supported anymore. Turtle Beach is phasing out, even though I paid good money for the hardware years ago.
Recommended and important software: Software that is recommended on every gaming PC and should continue to be supported can be found in the following article directly on MeinMMO. In total, there are 9 tips:
Steam, Discord and Co: 9 programs that you should install on every gaming PC
