Gaming hardware spent years looking like gaming hardware. Black plastic, sharp angles, and enough RGB lighting to make your desk visible from space.
SteelSeries is going in another direction with its new Cozy Collection.
The company has released its Arctis GameBuds in two new colors, Matcha and Yuzu, alongside matching No-Slip Performance Thumb Grips from KontrolFreek. The new versions arrive September 1, with the GameBuds starting at $199.99 and the thumb grips at $12.99.
The colors are new. The more interesting part is what SteelSeries has been doing with the earbuds themselves.
Earbuds Made for Consoles
The Arctis GameBuds are designed to work across Xbox, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC, depending on the model, while still serving as regular wireless earbuds for music, calls, and everything else you do with headphones.
That sounds obvious until you start trying to use ordinary Bluetooth earbuds for gaming.
Latency is the problem. A slight delay between what happens on screen and what reaches your ears might be tolerable during a podcast. It becomes annoying very quickly when you’re playing a game.
SteelSeries gets around this with a 2.4 GHz wireless connection designed for low-latency gaming. The idea is to provide the convenience of earbuds without giving up the fast wireless connection normally associated with a dedicated gaming headset.
The GameBuds also received updated firmware for 2026. SteelSeries says the update increases wireless power for a more stable connection and adds listen-before-talk, or LBT, which helps the earbuds choose channels and avoid wireless interference. The firmware is available for existing GameBuds as well, so these changes aren’t limited to the new colors.
Matcha or Yuzu?
The Cozy Collection is mostly about aesthetics.
Matcha gives the GameBuds a muted green finish, while Yuzu goes for a brighter yellow. Both move away from the usual gaming peripheral palette without turning the earbuds into something that looks out of place when you leave your desk.
That’s important because the GameBuds aren’t really being pitched as headphones you use only while gaming.
SteelSeries wants them to move between your console, computer, music, entertainment, calls, and work. In other words, they’re supposed to replace the separate gaming headset and everyday earbuds many people carry around.
Whether they actually can will depend heavily on comfort and sound quality, but the concept makes sense. Gaming has moved well beyond the desk, while gaming accessories have been slower to follow.
The Gaming Headset Is Shrinking
The GameBuds are part of an interesting change in gaming audio. For years, serious gaming audio meant a large over-ear headset with a boom microphone. Those aren’t going anywhere, particularly for long sessions, but earbuds are becoming a credible alternative.
They’re smaller. They’re easier to carry. You can use them away from your console without looking like you’ve just left a Call of Duty lobby. SteelSeries is trying to make that transition without giving up the low latency and platform support gamers expect from dedicated hardware.
The Matcha and Yuzu versions don’t fundamentally change the Arctis GameBuds. They’re the same basic $199.99 earbuds with some updated firmware and considerably less black plastic. And, thanks to the branding, they might make you a little cozier as Summer ends.