It's a new year, but not just any kind of year: it's the Year of the Dragon. SteelSeries is embodying this celebration in the best way we know how: with a jaw-dropping headset design.
We're introducing something special this year. And this isn't just about technology that makes your ears happy (we already do that with our amazing Nova lineup). Our designers reached out to their cultural roots to fashion a project honoring their heritage and tradition.
As the 2024 Lunar New Year nears us, the sign of the Dragon smiles upon you. Invite its blessing of fortune on yourself with our brand new Arctis Nova 7 Dragon Edition, launching January 22nd.
Enter the Dragon
Though words can hardly justify its beautiful design, there has been a great deal of consideration employed by our designer, Andy Gao. The typical Arctis Nova 7 Wireless elements have been updated with a dual color palette: a special red and gold, alluding to wealth, royalty, and authority.
"We wanted to incorporate details around the headset that drew inspiration from motifs in Lunar New Year celebrations," said Gao. "The character 福 (Fú, meaning ‘fortune’ or ‘good luck’) is a common character found during LNY celebrations which we thought would be a nice easter egg to incorporate on the earcup under the removable earplates — we could all use a little luck to get that next win."
The inner part contains a modernized character bestowing the Dragon's blessing upon you. It's a special extra touch for this Limited Edition headset. But of course, the speaker plate itself boasts a beautiful design of the dragon.
"The body is wrapped around the Chinese character for ‘dragon’ and sits atop a stack of lucky clouds (祥云xiángyún), a stylized decorative pattern of clouds commonly found in Chinese art, architecture, textiles, etc.," Gao said.
The design choices were driven by a collaborative effort involving a handful of people who wanted to bring in details that honored the celebrations and culture of the Lunar New Year.
On the topic of the speaker plates, a unique aspect of this Limited Edition gaming headset is the inclusion of a secondary set. Exchange the Dragon's seal with included speaker plates that showcase a special gold version of the SteelSeries logo, whenever you wish to display brand pride (we love you for it!).
The headband also stands out. With a dragon scale pattern debossed into it, you can feel the Dragon's blessing right over your head. It adds even more character to this special Limited Edition Nova 7.
Our Creative Lead collaborated on the design, creating a modernized version of the Dragon seal, lending aspects of her cultural heritage to the project.
"I would say the biggest difference is its complexity in detail. In more traditional dragon illustration you can see every single scale. Sometimes, artists would draw the face muscles of the dragon very clearly. And you see more small decorative patterns and strokes throughout, whereas our more modern take leans toward a minimalistic approach," said Angela Ho. "It's simpler, it's smoother and a slicker. It's not to say it's not detailed, but you won't see me adding lines to the mane or drawing every scale. It's designed almost like a logo where the goal is to create the biggest impact with the smallest space available."
All the designers are busy with upcoming projects, so they had to make the most impactful design choices with minimal impacts to the timeline. This fruitful, collaborative effort made by people of Asian culture is the first to celebrate Chinese heritage at SteelSeries.
"SteelSeries crafts tons of different kinds of Limited Edition over the years, collaborating with your favorite game studios, artists, or the most winning esport team. But we haven’t really done any limited edition for a specific holiday of any culture, even though doing something for Lunar New Year is always in our mind, but it hasn't come true until the Year of the Dragon," said Lucy Lei, Product Manager. "Dragon represents power and authority that totally resonate with our brand and products. This idea excited us and the team quickly put together this Arctis Nova 7 Dragon with passion, love and joy. And we are proud to announce it to celebrate this Lunar New Year!"
Features
Ascend to majestic audio with Nova 7 Dragon, which comes with all the awesome features of the Nova 7 Wireless: superior Nova Acoustic System for great audio, powerful wireless capability with two audio streams, great batter life, a multi-platform dongle, and more.
- Earn the Dragon's blessing of fortune with a unique coloring; two included earplate options
- Nova Acoustic System features High Fidelity Drivers for majestic audio quality with immersive 360° Spatial Audio and a first-in-gaming Parametric EQ
- Simultaneous Wireless (2.4GHz and Bluetooth) allows game and mobile audio mixing
- 38-hour battery life with USB-C fast charging, bringing 6 hours of use after 15 minutes
- AI-Powered noise-cancelling mic uses Sonar ClearCast AI algorithms to silence ambient sounds or teammate noise, with ChatMix Dial on-headset
- Multi-platform USB-C dongle works with PC, Mac, PlayStation, Switch, Meta Quest 2, and mobile
- ComfortMAX system for adjustable fit with a PVD-coated steel headband