Imagine having a paid job that requires you to participate in video game tournaments or test out the latest games. Sounds too good to be true, right? Well it turns out that the United States government has given a name to the lucky people who get to claim this as their job: professional eSports athletes. These athletes were officially recognized as professionals in 2013.
Just like any other sport, there is always new technology to improve the game. eSports is no exception. Turtle Beach, a company that designs and markets premium audio peripherals for video game consoles, personal computers and mobile devices, just announced the newest addition to their gaming headset products, Elite Pro.
Get The Latest Sports Tech News In Your Inbox!
Turtle Beach has partnered with the eSports powerhouse, OpTic Gaming, to release Elite Pro. OpTic Gaming will use Elite Pro as their official gaming audio gear of choice. The OpTic teams are using the headsets at the eSports World Convention in Paris from May 6-8.
“Everybody knows Turtle Beach. They’ve been around forever and have some great gaming headsets, so they definitely piqued our curiosity when they told us they were working on a top-secret eSports headset we’d be interested in seeing,” said Hectory Rodrigues, Team Manager of OpTic Gaming. “So we invited Turtle Beach to the OpTic Gaming house in Chicago to see what they had in store for us, and the moment they brought out the Elite Pro Headset, T.A.C and other gear, we knew simply by looking at everything that this was a vast departure from what we were expecting.”
The Elite Pro headset includes ComforTec Fit System, Aerofit Ear Cushions and ProSpecs Glasses Relief System, to name a few of its luxurious features. ComforTec Fit System allows users to adjust the headset to their preference and includes tension controls to change the tightness and a floating headband to equally distribute the weight across the head.
Each user has the ability to be extremely detailed with how they fit the headset to their head. Spandex fabric is combined with cooling gel-infused memory foam that is used for the Aerofit Ear Cushions. Which keeps players cooler for longer. Players can also expect better sounds with the Aerofit Ear Cushions as it blocks out external noise.
ProSpecs Glasses Relief System allows those who wear glasses to play in comfort. It has an adjustment built into the ear-cups that creates a small channel in the ear cushion to put the glasses through.
Other features include the easy communication with team members due to the pro gaming microphone with TruSpeak Technology and Turtle Beach’s signature audio tuning 50mm nanoclear speakers that provides clear game and team chat sounds. Users can connect the Elite Pro headset with other Elite Pro accessories through the Circuit Pro Cable System, a universal connection. Customizable speaker plates can also attach magnetically to the outside of the ear-cups, which lets users show off their favorite eSports teams.
The headset also includes an Elite Membership to Turtle Beach that comes with two-year manufacturer’s warranty, exclusive offers from Turtle Beach online store and partners and more. The headset is compatible with Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC.
Although it is geared towards professional gamers, Elite Pro is available to avid gamers for $200. With additional accessories sold separately, one could easily spend up to $400 on creating the best gaming environment. Pre-orders of Elite Pro begin on May 27 and if this tricked out headset isn’t a sign that eSports have arrived then we don’t know what else is.