Logitech sells a ton of hardware for content creators, including high-quality webcams, USB microphones, and gaming accessories. And now, Logitech can add a livestreaming controller to its portfolio—Logitech justacquired Loupedeck, one of Elgato’s greatest rivals.

While it isn’t exactly a household name, Loupedeck is a respected brand among livestreamers and content creators. Loupedeck’s earliest hardware controllers were intendedfor creative software, such as Premiere Pro and Logic Pro. But the brand’s latest products, including theLoupedeck Live, are specially made for livestreaming.

The Loupedeck Live is similar to Elgato’s Stream Deck, though there are some notable differences. While the Stream Deck is basically just a launcher (you press a button to perform a task), Loupedeck Live features several knobs and shortcuts that can be assigned to tools or actions within your software. (You may use these knobs to control multiple audio sources in a livestream, or to adjust brush size in Photoshop.)

And, notably, you can assign software-specific presets to Loupedeck Live. If you build presets for Ableton Live, for example, these presets will automatically appear when you open the Ableton app. It’s a very multi-purpose hardware controller, and it may be a lot more flexible than the Elgato Stream Deck. (This kind of contextually-aware hardware control is something that recently appeared in theLogitech Options+ software.)

Judging by its press release, Logitech probably plans to compete directly with the Stream Deck. Though it may also use Loupedeck’s technology in its professional and creative hardware. Logitech also mentions that its mice and keyboards will benefit from Loupedeck’s “smarter” and “contextually aware” software.

But the future is a bit unclear. Logitech may sell Loupedeck-branded hardware, or it may simply use Loupedeck as a foundation for a new product lineup. Or, Loupedeck may be folded into the Logitech G family—something that recently happenedto Blue Microphones. (For what it’s worth, Logitech is still pretty hands-off with Streamlabs, a company that it acquired in 2019.)

In any case, Logitech will continue to support existing Loupedeck products. And the Loupedeck team claims that this acquisition will broaden the customer base for Loupedeck devices. This may indicate that Loupedeck will survive as a hardware brand, rather than being dissolved into something else.