Logitech acquires streaming controller maker Loupedeck
It builds the Elgato Stream Deck rival Loupedeck Live, among other products.
Loupedeck, which started as an Indiegogo project with its original Lightroom editing console, has been acquired by Logitech for an undisclosed "non-material" sum, the companies announced. "This acquisition augments Logitech’s product portfolio today and accelerates our software ambitions of enabling keyboards, mice and more to become smarter and contextually aware," said Logitech G general manager Ujesh Desai in a statement.
After launching an advanced editing console in 2019 (the Loupedeck CT), the company pivoted toward video streaming with the Loupedeck Live and Loupedeck Live S. Those offer an alternative to Elgato's Stream Deck, used by content creators to add titles, picture-in-picture and more to live streams. Loupedeck also collaborated with Razer on its own creator product, the Stream Controller.
Buying Loupedeck gives Logitech the ability to deliver a "premium experience" for content creators including gamers, livestreamers and others, it said. At the same time, Logitech is promising more "seamless" usage for onboarding, presets and the coupling of Streamlabs apps and Loupedeck devices. For its part, Loupedeck said that joining Logitech will help it "exponentially" broaden its audience.
In fact, Logitech acquired Streamlabs back in 2019 to get deeper into game streaming — one of a number of brand purchases it has made over the past few years. In 2016 it bought gaming peripheral company Saitek, in 2017 it purchased Astro, which makes headsets popular with gamers and streamers, and in 2018, Logitech aquired Blue Microphones.
How have those acquisitions worked out? Earlier this year Logitech retired the Blue branding, though it still manufactures most of the company's original products like the Yeti and Snowball mics. Loupedeck's products are nice but a bit expensive, so Logitech may be able to bring the price down while increasing manufacturing quality. In any case, "Loupedeck will continue supporting its customers and partners and will operate as usual for the foreseeable future," the press release states.
