Fanatec acquired by Corsair

  • Thread starter PJTierney
  • 260 comments
  • 45,938 views
How much do you think the "Sony tax" for each ddpro added up to?, which they received no doubt. 2-3 hundred million?
Just a guess but all I'm saying is, I wonder if the 30 % or so Sony tax factured into Fanatecs financial woes.
That's what I meant by saying Sony should have helped. Give their partner a break, and maybe try being a little more pro-consumer and less greedy overlords. The official GT wheel brings down the manufacturer for a piddly couple hundred mil, money Sony wouldn't even notice.

I know thats the reason I never ended up buying into the ecosystem for gt7, too prohibitively expensive for value.
I still want to buy the dd extreme, but by the time I got one imported into Canada it'd be 2500$ dang near.
If Corsair does get to keep what they stole, I hope they find a way to bring costs down on their product, to ship more product. Hopefully to more countries without duties being tacked on to boot, get the gran Turismo wheel in stores.
 
How much do you think the "Sony tax" for each ddpro added up to?, which they received no doubt. 2-3 hundred million?
Just a guess but all I'm saying is, I wonder if the 30 % or so Sony tax factured into Fanatecs financial woes.
That's what I meant by saying Sony should have helped. Give their partner a break, and maybe try being a little more pro-consumer and less greedy overlords. The official GT wheel brings down the manufacturer for a piddly couple hundred mil, money Sony wouldn't even notice.

I know thats the reason I never ended up buying into the ecosystem for gt7, too prohibitively expensive for value.
I still want to buy the dd extreme, but by the time I got one imported into Canada it'd be 2500$ dang near.
If Corsair does get to keep what they stole, I hope they find a way to bring costs down on their product, to ship more product. Hopefully to more countries without duties being tacked on to boot, get the gran Turismo wheel in stores.
Sony doesn't charge any taxes or anything, they force you to buy their compatibility chips, which are around 100€, which the customers pay, Fanatec has never lost money from that.
As for GT7, Fanatec is the official steering wheel, because it is the sponsor, like every sponsor pays to have visibility, it is advertising.
 
How much do you think the "Sony tax" for each ddpro added up to?, which they received no doubt. 2-3 hundred million?
Just a guess but all I'm saying is, I wonder if the 30 % or so Sony tax factured into Fanatecs financial woes.
That's what I meant by saying Sony should have helped. Give their partner a break, and maybe try being a little more pro-consumer and less greedy overlords. The official GT wheel brings down the manufacturer for a piddly couple hundred mil, money Sony wouldn't even notice.
The PS compatible wheel bases have been more expensive than their PC only counterpart for a reason - to cover those costs for the PS chip, as Morilec pointed out. This was definitely not the reason for them going down
 

CORSAIR Close to Acquiring Fanatec Sim Racing

Milpitas (California)/Landshut, September 16, 2024
– CORSAIR is pleased to announce that it has signed a definitive agreement with Endor AG to acquire the Fanatec Sim Racing product line. This includes the current Endor employees who support and operate the Fanatec product line. The headquarters will remain in Landshut, where development of future Fanatec sim racing products will continue. The transaction is expected to close shortly.

Fanatec is known worldwide for bringing the thrilling experience of sim racing into many homes and racing centers and building a large fan base of passionate followers. With high-quality hardware and innovative products, Fanatec has set the standard in the sim racing industry for an immersive racing experience. Specialized sim racing products include force feedback steering wheels, pedals, gearshifts and complete cockpits for PlayStation, Xbox and PC-based racing simulators.

Andy Paul, CEO of CORSAIR, expressed his excitement about the event: "We have long admired the Fanatec brand and are excited to bring these outstanding products to an even wider audience. We are committed to continuing to develop and expand Fanatec's product lines, improve customer service, and meet the needs of the sim racing community. Racing enthusiasts can look forward to an even more immersive and realistic sim racing experience."

Andres Ruff, CEO of Endor AG, added: "CORSAIR shares Fanatec's passion for innovation, quality and continuous development. CORSAIR will open up new opportunities for Fanatec to further expand the portfolio and work even more closely with the growing sim racing community."

CORSAIR plans to make significant investments in the Fanatec brand, its products, and global availability through its distribution channels. All existing and future Fanatec customers will benefit from CORSAIR's world-class support, including warranty and software updates.

CORSAIR and Fanatec share the immediate goal of ensuring timely delivery of all orders and maintaining customer satisfaction during this ownership transition.


 
Last edited:
How much do you think the "Sony tax" for each ddpro added up to?, which they received no doubt. 2-3 hundred million?
Just a guess but all I'm saying is, I wonder if the 30 % or so Sony tax factured into Fanatecs financial woes.
That's what I meant by saying Sony should have helped. Give their partner a break, and maybe try being a little more pro-consumer and less greedy overlords. The official GT wheel brings down the manufacturer for a piddly couple hundred mil, money Sony wouldn't even notice.

I know thats the reason I never ended up buying into the ecosystem for gt7, too prohibitively expensive for value.
I still want to buy the dd extreme, but by the time I got one imported into Canada it'd be 2500$ dang near.
If Corsair does get to keep what they stole, I hope they find a way to bring costs down on their product, to ship more product. Hopefully to more countries without duties being tacked on to boot, get the gran Turismo wheel in stores.
Where are you getting 30% from? I doubt Andor/Fanatec agreed to pay Sony that amount per wheel sold, and if they did, then Andor/Fanatec deserved to go out of business.
 


Great, can't wait to see new hardware, can't wait to see some dynamic oil pedals.

Where are you getting 30% from? I doubt Andor/Fanatec agreed to pay Sony that amount per wheel sold, and if they did, then Andor/Fanatec deserved to go out of business.
I think he made the argument that if Sony takes 30% of digital game sales, it will do the same with third-party hardware.
 
Interesting that the release says the HQ will continue to operate as the HQ. The info/statement that came out last week said the property wasn't part of the deal and was up for sale, did it not?
 
Interesting that the release says the HQ will continue to operate as the HQ. The info/statement that came out last week said the property wasn't part of the deal and was up for sale, did it not?
My understanding is that Andor still occupies their previous HQ, and that that is the building Corsair intends to keep. The new building with the track will be sold.
 
This is the discussion thread for an article on GTPlanet:

Corsair Deal for Fanatec Confirmed: Fanatec Product Lines to Continue

Following the news that American peripheral manufacturer Corsair had made a deal with the administrators of Endor AG over the weekend, it’s now been confirmed that Fanatec will live on under the new owners...
 
This is the discussion thread for an article on GTPlanet:

Corsair Deal for Fanatec Confirmed: Fanatec Product Lines to Continue

Following the news that American peripheral manufacturer Corsair had made a deal with the administrators of Endor AG over the weekend, it’s now been confirmed that Fanatec will live on under the new owners...
So if the Fanatec by Corsair DD+ isn't used in Tokyo, does that mean that GT8 is in development and the Track list will include My First Gran Tursimo love, Autumn Ring mini & SSR11 along with the Chevy SSR?
 
So if the Fanatec by Corsair DD+ isn't used in Tokyo, does that mean that GT8 is in development and the Track list will include My First Gran Tursimo love, Autumn Ring mini & SSR11 along with the Chevy SSR?
My personal guess is - as long as the disconnect issues with the DD+ firmware are not 100% fixed, they'll stay with the DD Pro. Since they do appear rather randomly without anything specific triggering them, it would be a huge risk to use them competitively. Imagine two drivers going side by side into the last corner fighting for the win just to have a wheel disconnect. The public outcry would be massive.

Last time I had contact with them was 1.5 months ago where they were still analyzing and asking for affected wheelbases, which is why I got a new base. I haven't really followed the scene since, since I am taking a break from gaming at the moment, but I didn't see a new firmware release yet so I don't think it's fully fixed.

On the other hand, the Corsair takeover should at least improve the customer service times massively in the near future (at least I hope so, I didn't have contact with them yet)
 
My personal guess is - as long as the disconnect issues with the DD+ firmware are not 100% fixed, they'll stay with the DD Pro. Since they do appear rather randomly without anything specific triggering them, it would be a huge risk to use them competitively. Imagine two drivers going side by side into the last corner fighting for the win just to have a wheel disconnect. The public outcry would be massive.

Last time I had contact with them was 1.5 months ago where they were still analyzing and asking for affected wheelbases, which is why I got a new base. I haven't really followed the scene since, since I am taking a break from gaming at the moment, but I didn't see a new firmware release yet so I don't think it's fully fixed.

On the other hand, the Corsair takeover should at least improve the customer service times massively in the near future (at least I hope so, I didn't have contact with them yet)
A update base file for the disconnect and CSL pedal issues has been posted bottom of page 8

DD (+) base update
 
My personal guess is - as long as the disconnect issues with the DD+ firmware are not 100% fixed, they'll stay with the DD Pro. Since they do appear rather randomly without anything specific triggering them, it would be a huge risk to use them competitively. Imagine two drivers going side by side into the last corner fighting for the win just to have a wheel disconnect. The public outcry would be massive.

Last time I had contact with them was 1.5 months ago where they were still analyzing and asking for affected wheelbases, which is why I got a new base. I haven't really followed the scene since, since I am taking a break from gaming at the moment, but I didn't see a new firmware release yet so I don't think it's fully fixed.

On the other hand, the Corsair takeover should at least improve the customer service times massively in the near future (at least I hope so, I didn't have contact with them yet)
Fanatec released a 2.2.3.7 base firmware update this morning targeting this issue: - https://forum.fanatec.com/discussion/comment/130097/#Comment_130097

Maybe they're frantically(fanatically?) trying to get it sorted for Tokyo. 🤞
 
My personal guess is - as long as the disconnect issues with the DD+ firmware are not 100% fixed, they'll stay with the DD Pro. Since they do appear rather randomly without anything specific triggering them, it would be a huge risk to use them competitively. Imagine two drivers going side by side into the last corner fighting for the win just to have a wheel disconnect. The public outcry would be massive.
That was my experience with the T300 wheel back in the day-suddenly the game would just pause..."[insert expletive here]!" :lol:. It basically marked the end of online races for me outside of the requirements to platinum each game.


Jerome
 
Last edited:
Back