SA the most advanced gaming country in Africa: Steelseries

SteelSeries has made a name for itself with its peripherals and gear, and MyGaming caught up with SteelSeries marketing manager Dan Sonderskov to discuss the role of SteelSeries in SA and what we can expect from the company.

With the question of SteelSeries’ prominence in South Africa and how it weighs up compared to other regions, Sonderskov was confident in saying that SA is on the radar and very important to SteelSeries.

“South Africa is really high on our radar. In revenue, it’s not up there with the biggest, but its growing rapidly, and that’s the important thing,” said Sonderskov. “Looking at an Excel spreadsheet is one thing, but coming here and seeing the community and growth of gaming is another, and so SA is very high in importance.”

SteelSeries has the international store on its global site, but MyGaming asked whether South Africa would get its own portal or online store specific to the region.

“We are looking into that. South Africa is a long way from our central warehouse, but it’s definitely something we’re looking into,” said Sonderskov.

SteelSeries is known for its game-branded peripherals, and Sonderskov also said that we can look forward to some new peripherals and devices branded with new game content, but couldn’t give any specific details on them.

With regards to specific SteelSeries products, Sonderskov gave some insight into what’s been successful in SA.

“Siberia V2 – people seem to really like the Siberia V2. It’s very centric to PC gaming, but many gamers like it, and I guess it’s down to the fact that the price point is approachable and it’s got a good look to it and offers great performance,” said Sonderskov.

Regarding South Africa going forward as a gaming nation, Sonderskov had some interesting words for the perception and ambitions of a country such as SA.

“It’s important to get South Africa on the map, and it’s the most advanced country in Africa by far, but people aren’t aware of that from a global perspective,” said Sonderskov.

“If I look at Russia, [it] used to be considered very small in terms of gaming, but now they’re one of the biggest and always have presence at eSports tournaments, and I see the same potential for South Africa.”

“To really go to a new level, gaming also needs political assistance. The biggest gaming countries have eSports on their political agenda list, so for SA to grow, it’s important for the politicians to see beyond the violence and negative aspects of gaming, and to the social aspect of gaming, which are very important,” said Sonderskov.

SteelSeries also recently announced that it is sponsoring South African esports clan, Energy eSports.