Turtle Beach is buying quirky microphone maker Neat

Gaming headset maker Turtle Beach is acquiring Neat Microphones. Neat, if you’re unfamiliar with them, is best known for making whimsical desktop USB microphones that combine playful hues with retro-futurist design. The company’s founders include Skipper Wise and Martins Saulespurenssome, who also started Blue Microphones back in the 90s. Turtle Beach didn’t disclose the financial terms of the deal, but did share some of its reasons for buying Neat.

Naturally, a big part of the appeal was Wise’s and Saulespurenssome’s involvement in the project. Wise said Turtle Beach is effectively adding 100 plus years of design experience through the acquisition. The deal will also allow the company to expand its product portfolio to include non-gaming devices. “Neat's technology will further enhance our future industry-leading Turtle Beach and ROCCAT products,” the company said. “Additionally, the Neat brand expands our reach beyond gaming with a broader assortment of consumer and prosumer audio products."

At the same time, it sounds like Neat will get the chance to stay relatively independent. The company said it plans to launch updated versions of some of its most popular microphones in 2021. It’s also working on entirely new products that it hopes will meet “the growing demand for high-quality, affordable microphones."