Leading gaming accessories provider Turtle Beach Corporation today officially announced the Company’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) program, entitled Play with Purpose. The Company’s Play with Purpose program, along with its ESG Policy adopted by its Board of Directors, formalizes the Company’s ESG initiatives and sets goals that are, and will continue to be, a vital part of Turtle Beach Corporation’s business. Available on the Company’s corporate website, Play with Purpose highlights Turtle Beach Corporation’s current and future initiatives and goals to reduce its carbon footprint, eliminate plastic packaging, reduce packaging size, and add carbon impact labels on select products across its Turtle Beach, ROCCAT, and Neat Microphones brands. Beyond Turtle Beach Corporation’s ESG goals, Play with Purpose also provides insight into the Company’s diversity and inclusion and community involvement commitments.
“As one of the most well-known brands in gaming for decades, Turtle Beach has had a long-term commitment to ESG initiatives and today’s announcement articulates our future goals,” said Juergen Stark, Chairman and CEO, Turtle Beach Corporation. “With the guidance of the team at RPS Group, amplified by the energy within the organization to continue to do more and do better, we are excited to share these plans and our goals with the community. We want to ensure that when consumers buy Turtle Beach, ROCCAT, and Neat Microphones products, they have confidence knowing we’re focused on minimizing environmental impact, in addition to knowing they’re getting the highest-quality product.”
One of Turtle Beach Corporation’s commitments to date includes reducing plastic use in packaging by 88% (by weight) for the Company’s Stealth 600 Gen 2 headset for Xbox (as compared to the original Stealth 600 Xbox headset model). In addition, with other headset models, plastic use was reduced by 87%-96% (by weight). Turtle Beach Corporation has also re-engineered product packaging over time to reduce the overall size and allow for more efficient shipping, which reduces the carbon output associated with shipping products.
Nevertheless, Turtle Beach Corporation plans to go further. By 2023, the Company aims to introduce carbon neutral products and place carbon impact labeling on select products. Turtle Beach’s ESG team is investigating potential sources of post-consumer recycled plastics (PCR) and ways to best integrate PCRs into future products. By 2024, the goal is to incorporate at least 10% PCRs into select products. These actions will not only minimize Turtle Beach Corporation’s environmental impact, but will also enable Turtle Beach, ROCCAT, and Neat Microphones customers to make informed purchasing decisions that support a more sustainable lifestyle.
Turtle Beach Corporation’s Play with Purpose program is also about more than the environment. Indeed, the Company has always taken a strong position to support diversity and inclusion, along with steadfast community support and interaction. The Company believes workplace diversity creates an environment where different perspectives lead to improved creativity, productivity, team member engagement, and overall employee happiness. To embrace diversity, Turtle Beach has taken initiatives such as working with diversity-focused, specialized job sites to increase the diversity of its candidate pool.
In addition to the Company’s long-standing in-house diversity efforts, over 60% of Turtle Beach Corporation’s roster of external gaming partners and creator talent come from under-represented groups in gaming. Turtle Beach Corporation also supports the broader community by giving back to causes that we, along with our customers and our partners, care strongly about. For example, in 2020, in support of social justice reform Turtle Beach Corporation partnered with Roc Nation and Team Roc to provide financial support for The Gathering for Justice and Until Freedom. Also, in 2021 Turtle Beach announced a long-term partnership with GLSEN to support LGBTQ+ gamers.
Stark added, “We want to work with a diverse group of the best and brightest people, because it makes Turtle Beach Corporation a better place. Whether it’s the individuals that make up the Company, other companies we work with, or the influencers, content creators, and pro gamers we partner with, diversity has always played an important role in how we do business.”
Turtle Beach Corporation engaged RPS Group – a global ESG consultancy, to help enhance its ESG strategy, assist with implementation, and provide an objective assessment of its current standing with respect to ESG matters.
