With Elgato and Scuf already on the roster, Corsair is building a PC gaming empire. Today, it announced its next step, with plans to acquire custom keyboard mega-name Drop. After building hot-swappable switches into some of its best gaming keyboards over the last 12 months, the firm has serious plans to bring custom decks to the mainstream, and this latest purchase will help them get there significantly quicker.
Things aren't going to change too much for customers, though. Drop CEO Jef Holove explains that "Drop will continue as a brand, team and community within Corsair." Similar to the manner in which Elgato, Scuf, and Origin work as sub-brands underneath the big C, Drop will continue to produce its own products independently.
However, Holove does emphasize that "access to a world class supply chain will make getting you those products more reliable." That means those longer wait times when picking up individual parts from the official Drop website could shortly be a thing of the past.
Hopefully this transition won't be too siloed. After all, Corsair's made a solid move here. We loved keyboards like the K70 Pro Mini bringing hot-swappable switches to the masses for the first time last year, but that emphasis on speed, performance, and onboard memory often comes at the expense of typing feel.
By contrast, Drop prides itself on its sophisticated custom keyboard position - and all the gasket mounts, quality stabilizers, and personalization options that come with it. The pairing could leave us with the best of both worlds, a typist's feel with a competitive gamer's edge. That could be a seriously potent combination - there's only one hot-swappable keyboard we've come across so far that offers something close, and that's the Asus ROG Azoth.
As the gaming keyboard industry takes further steps to bring the world of custom mechanical decks into its fold, partnerships like this are going to be key to ensuring gaming brands get their first few releases right.
We're rounding up all the best wireless gaming keyboards if you're keen to finish up your setup, or take a look at the best Razer keyboards and the best membrane keyboards if you're after something a little different.
