For knowledgeable esports athlete, whatever the sport, precision is all the pieces.
In an business filled with high-pressure tournaments, generally with prize swimming pools within the hundreds of thousands, one misclick might show to be expensive. Because the ecosystem has advanced, esports gamers have continued to hone their expertise within the sport itself; nonetheless, what is commonly ignored by the broader public is the developments which can be being made outdoors of it.
Gaming gear is a necessary a part of a participant’s efficiency at a excessive degree, however not simply from a technological standpoint. Being comfy with a chunk of apparatus leaves much less room for concern when stepping onto a stage in entrance of a giant viewers. Similar to in conventional sports activities, every athlete has their very own particular set-up that they imagine is the important thing to unlocking their true potential.
For this reason gaming gear model Secretlab has launched the On-Stage Commonplace, a spread of esports-focused tools designed to assist gamers replicate their coaching setups throughout numerous tournaments. Headlined by Secretlab’s new InfinitePrecision Armrest, the On-Stage Commonplace additionally features a desk mat for its MAGNUS Professional Steel Desk, all to offer professional gamers the power to measure their setups precisely, irrespective of if the placement adjustments.
Whereas this may occasionally appear arbitrary for these stepping right into a ranked sport, creating optimum configurations from apply to competitors helps create a way of familiarity throughout numerous unfamiliar venues. For this reason it isn’t unusual to see gamers go to nice lengths earlier than a sport to measure and regulate peripherals and chairs to discover a setup that they’re comfy with throughout the setup stage.
“If you happen to really feel like your setting isn’t proper, it could actually throw you off your sport,” highlighted Lee ‘Faker’ Sang-hyeok in Secretlab’s new mini-documentary in collaboration with Riot Video games for the gear’s launch.
Creating the Secretlab On-Stage Commonplace
Chatting with Esports Insider, Beatrice Wee, Head of World Partnerships at Secretlab, famous that the concept for the On-Stage Commonplace originated in 2023 when T1 participant Keira struggled to regulate his armrests throughout the 2023 League of Legends World Championship.
“That’s after we realised that Secretlab is in a novel place to assist gamers and tournaments obtain the ultra-precise, constant setup expertise that they’ve been on the lookout for,” she mentioned.
In response to Wee, working alongside its companions — which embrace the likes of Paper Rex, Cloud9 and LoL Esports — helped collect data on what gamers had been on the lookout for when it got here to precision.
“Each participant has their very own most popular distinctive setup configuration,” Wee said.
“Even when it’s just a few millimetres off, it makes an enormous distinction of their efficiency. That’s why it’s extremely vital that the Secretlab On-Stage Commonplace is designed in a means for gamers to make very high-quality changes, not based mostly on a common feeling, however with engineered precision.”
On account of its analysis, Secretlab has developed the InfinitePrecision Armrest (On-Stage Commonplace). This piece of drugs equips to its TITAN Evo chair vary and includes a digital show that reveals customers precisely the peak of their armrest. The purpose of the gadget is to offer gamers with a exact measurement that they’ll then replicate when at venues for different occasions, offered that the match organiser additionally makes use of the Secretlab TITAN Evo chair and On-Stage Commonplace tools.
Fortunately for gamers throughout Riot Video games’ ecosystem, Secretlab has been a long-time associate of League of Legends and VALORANT for a few years, offering its chairs throughout the developer’s world esports occasions. Which means athletes who practice with Secretlab gear are in a position to replicate the peak of their armrest with ease.
Nonetheless, given the tools’s exclusivity to the TITAN Evo mannequin, it doesn’t resolve the problem for athletes or match organisers who utilise different setups outdoors of Secretlab, whether or not that is because of private desire or present partnerships. It is usually vital to notice that the digital armrest measurement by Secretlab is exclusive in that each 0.1 on the show corresponds to 0.6mm (providing a stepless top adjustment vary of 78mm).
However, after Esports Insider was supplied with the InfinitePrecision Armrest to check previous to writing this text, the product does ship what it guarantees. It in the end ought to profit Secretlab customers on the lookout for particular measurements for his or her armrest top. The armrest additionally comes with the power to regulate its front-to-back and side-to-side place, offering an much more tailor-made expertise.
Esports followers can get a full take a look at the armrest in motion on the League of Legends 2025 World Championship later this month in China. Nonetheless, keen-eyed viewers also can look again at First Stand and MSI 2025 because the product was additionally trialled at these occasions earlier than its official launch.
One other piece of drugs that appears to assist gamers with their setups is the Secretlab MAGPAD Desk Mat (On-Stage Commonplace Version). The product, which inserts onto Secretlab’s MAGNUS Professional Sit-to-Stand Steel Desk, options grids and measurements that enable gamers to position any peripheral, similar to a mouse and keyboard, in the very same space that they use in apply. Gone are the times of utilizing a ruler.
From a fan’s perspective, the introduction of the On-Stage Commonplace additionally supplies extra of an in-depth look right into a participant’s setup. While the gear is focused in direction of skilled athletes, followers now have the power to glimpse into how a participant units up earlier than a vital sport. This isn’t a brand new phenomenon, with web sites devoted to the setups and settings that professional gamers use in video games similar to Counter-Strike.
Secretlab, specifically, famous three gamers’ setups with the On-Stage Commonplace, highlighting the completely different preferences gamers have. Paper Rex VALORANT participant Ilia ‘one thing’ Petrov has a desk setting of 735mm, an armrest setting of -2.5, and notably solely makes use of the left armrest.
In the meantime, Cloud9 VALORANT athlete Erick ‘Xeppaa’ Bach has a desk setting of 770mm and -1.6, while the organisation’s League of Legends participant Robert ‘Blaber’ Huang prefers a decrease desk (740mm) but the next armrest (3.3). These insights alone spotlight how every participant has their very own excellent setup to assist carry out at their greatest.
Creating Consolation
While it may very well be argued whether or not having particular gaming setups can truly assist enhance gameplay, the psychological impact of ‘one thing’ not feeling proper may be amplified throughout high-pressure conditions.
Recalling his time as a professional participant, Los Ratones co-owner, Marc ‘Caedrel’ Lamont, additionally famous within the documentary: “If I had been to make a misplay or die in a 1v1, the very first thing I’d suppose is perhaps it’s my mouse? Perhaps it’s my armrest? One thing feels incorrect. If you happen to had been at residence, you wouldn’t do this.”
In a press launch offered to Esports Insider, Secretlab refers to muscle reminiscence and psychological focus as key causes for guaranteeing that each millimetre is accounted for earlier than leaping into a vital esports match. Taking away outdoors elements and making an athlete extra comfy in uncommon environment takes away one psychological hurdle, serving to a participant give attention to what issues – the sport.
For this reason esports-specific gaming gear continues to evolve — to get one of the best out of a participant. To the typical fan watching at residence, having the optimum DPI (dots per inch) for gaming mice, pristine audio for headsets, or armrests that calculate the proper top might seem to be a minor, unimportant issue. Nonetheless, for execs on the high degree, each millimetre issues and precision is essential.
Disclaimer: Esports Insider was supplied with a Secretlab InfinitePrecision Armrest to check the product previous to publishing this text.
