In a new update for Opera GX, the gaming version of Opera’s web browser, you can now set RGB lighting, which lights up peripherals and hardware on your PC, to certain web actions with Corsair’s iCue peripherals, so their lighting effects will change depending on what you’re doing in the browser..
If you use a PC primarily for gaming, there’s a good chance that you’ve already set up multiple color profiles with the RGB-enabled components and peripherals installed in your rig.
The ability to synchronize the RGB lighting effects of your hardware with what’s happening in games has been around for a while now, but with so many gaming peripherals still going all-in on RGB, it felt inevitable that we’d eventually see RGB-enabled web browsers.
But, we wanted to find out more about this collaboration between Opera and Corsair, so we spoke with the Product Manager for Opera GX, Maciej Kocemba, about how and why this occurred.
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The story behind RGB in Opera GX
We wanted to ask just how this feature came about with Corsair. “With Opera GX, we are aiming to match gamers’ tastes and needs,” Kocemba explains. “One of them is for your setup to match and respond to everything that happens on the screen. Corsair, as one of the world’s key gaming gear manufacturers, was an obvious choice. We’ve worked with the Corsair team for quite some time to make this integration perfect.”
Kocemba told us that you can set up to 15 browser actions to sync with Corsair RGB, with five preset animations that can be used as well. But while this sets up the colors and animations for browser actions, we wondered if this feature also applies to the browser games and other web apps that users have bookmarked.
“It’s up to the game and its developers to decide how to respond to in-game events,” Kocemba clarifies. “We’re covering all the browser-related events like downloads, notifications coming from messengers etc.”
While we were told that there were no accessibility features as part of this RGB collaboration, the launch of Windows 11 on October 5 is looming. We wanted to see if Opera GX was going to be in the new Microsoft Store on day one.
“We’re considering the possibilities of getting Opera GX into the Windows Store, but with no relations to the GX Lights feature,” Kocemba told us.
Analysis: an overdue crossover
Surprisingly there’s been no browser extensions or third party plugins to enable any RGB effects on your chosen web browser, but Opera has clearly seen an opportunity here, and worked with Corsair to make it happen for its GX browser.
I own a SteelSeries Apex Pro and it’s one of the best keyboards I’ve used, mainly thanks to the RGB profiles I can set for it, alongside magnetic keys that allows me to change the actuation of the keys as I see fit. RGB in a web browser could work well, especially when watching videos or listening to music, as it syncs up to my keyboard and RGB peripherals on my desk.
While I couldn’t force my SteelSeries keyboard or Razer peripherals to work with the RGB features in Opera GX, it’s most likely a matter of time before these companies follow suit and look to integrate their products into Opera GX, and possibly other web browsers.
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