I admit it: I take advantage of Razer’s mechanical gaming keyboards and its sensible lights to create a little bit of an ~aesthetic~ in my workplace. And individuals like me are the explanation why Razer launched a smart home app for its Chroma RGB lighting ecosystem.

It’s not a nasty thought. After all, Razer’s made a reputation for itself with its black gaming peripherals bedecked in over-the-top, colourful RGB lighting. Razer plans these to unify these equipment, together with sensible bulbs and lighting fixtures from different manufacturers, in its new sensible house app.

Razer already has deliberate integration with greater than 50 {hardware} companions and 200 video games. And third-party sensible gentle manufacturers have already signed on, together with Nanoleaf, LIFX, Yeelight, Monster, and Twinkly. Razer is hoping its CES 2022 announcement will entice extra corporations to return on board.

Notably lacking from the point out is Signify’s Philips Hue, one of many extra well-liked sensible bulb ecosystems. There is native Philips Hue bridge integration by Razer’s Synapse PC software program for present Razer customers, which syncs up your bulbs with the lights on the gaming keyboard.

Razer’s Smart Home App appears to be like like its personal gamer-fied model of the Philips Hue app and even Google Home. However, all we’ve to go off of is a screenshot of the primary app web page. I see shortcuts for creating rooms and making routines, nevertheless it appears restricted to lighting. Razer says its sensible house app comes with 16.8 million colours and a collection of lighting results.

Razer’s peripherals and equipment, and by extension its Chrome RGB platform, are all meant to work in tandem to assist set a temper earlier than you plop your butt down on the laptop. I feel it’d really be simpler to take action with the Razer sensible house app than it could be to make use of Google Home, which doesn’t presently have help for altering the colours and patterns on Razer’s lighting fixtures.

Depending on how the Razer sensible house app connects, this may additionally make it simpler for individuals who don’t have the sensible house “keys,” or so to talk, to create customized gentle scenes with out admin entry. I’ve reached out to Razer to ask if the sunshine syncing performance will prolong to all of its light-up units, like its CPU followers and keyboards, which might make for some significantly killer aesthetics.

Look, I wished to assume this was dumb, nevertheless it really looks as if it is perhaps helpful when you’re designing a whole lighting search for your gaming setup (or your workplace, no matter, no judgment). And, hey, not less than it sounds enjoyable.

Razer plans to launch the brand new sensible house app for Android and iOS within the first half of this yr.