Sony Interactive Entertainment has entered into an agreement to acquire high-end headphone brand Audeze, which could spell good news for future PlayStation headset performance.
Audeze has produced a number of headphone hits (and some misses) in recent years, as well as higher-end gaming headsets such as last year's Maxwell, and Sony is looking to leverage the company's audio expertise to take PlayStation audio experiences to the next level.
Hideaki Nishino, senior vice president of Platform Experience at Sony Interactive Entertainment, says the company is excited to build on "the great strides we’ve made with PlayStation 5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech and the Pulse 3D wireless headset” with the acquisition, the terms and cost of which are not being disclosed at this time due to "contractual commitments".
Sony already impresses in the gaming headset market, but the tech giant clearly thinks Audeze can help enhance the performance of future models – perhaps through the California-based company's famed use of planar magnetic driver technology, as found in its LCD-GX open-back gaming headset and range of consumer and professional over-ear headphones. Could we see a higher-end PS5 headset above that of the Inzone H9 by Sony Electronics (a different division to SIE), or perhaps even a more innovative gaming audio concept? Only time will tell, but the acquisition does suggest Sony has big plans for future gaming audio.
The well-timed news comes hot on the heels of Sony unveiling two new PS products – the PlayStation Explore wireless earbuds (£/$200) and an upgraded version of the Pulse 3D called the Pulse Elite (£/$150).
Thankfully for fans of Audeze headphones, and the high-end market generally, Audeze will continue to "operate independently and develop multi-platform products" whilst being a player in the PlayStation ecosystem, so we can expect more consumer models to come – hopefully of the same ilk as the Audeze LCD-1 and LCD-3.
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