Thermaltake's new gaming chair is giving us peak Porsche marketing

A man sits on a white chair with an ominous shadow behind him, staring blankly at some architectural models. — (Image credit: ThermalTake)

Can we just take a moment to ask if Thermaltake is alright? The company's recent press images have taken an artsy turn, in particular the brooding, slightly ominous header image above makes us genuinely concerned that something's wrong.

The images turned out to be part of Thermaltake's press efforts to get us to notice the Argent E700 Real Leather Gaming Chair, Thermaltake's recent collab with Studio F.A. Porsche. A project through which the company is "Bearing Witness to a New Dawn."

Thermaltake has, by way of promoting its new gaming chair, taken to exhibiting the work of artists, musicians, and athletes whose "master craftsmanship, cross-disciplinary creation and stable spiritual power, echoes the spirit that Thermaltake wants to convey."

Mr. Fan Cheng-Zong is the "contemporary artist with an old soul" who we see hunching over his creations in such a dejected fashion. He's also been shot sitting seriously in, and next to, the chair, as well as the all important Simba-ing of his work while leaning back in the chair shot, which I'll be writing to my boss about later.

He is joined by Ms. Tai Siao-Chun, a musician keeping her indigenous heritage alive through tunes played on her moon lute (what an awesome name for an instrument); and Mr. Douglas Creighton, a professional basketball player from P. LEAGUE+, who Thermaltake says has "transformative ability when he is on the court," whatever that means.

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A lady sits on an orange chair amongst hordes of plants, holding a mandolin. — (Image credit: ThermalTake)

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All these shots are, of course, an attempt for Thermaltake to show off their new chair, and it's great that the company is emphasizing the hard work of creatives and athletes alike in the process.

But we just had to highlight how sad Mr. Cheng-Zong looks in his pics. We're not sure what Thermaltake said to him but it can't have been very nice. Maybe he's still feeling the sting of purchasing his new Porsche gaming chair, since the price tag is in the region of $1,300.

That's an immense cost, and it'll have to be pretty darn comfy to earn a place on our best gaming chairs list for that price. Even the outstanding Herman Miller Logitech Embody is a stretch for most at $1,200.

Still, the Argent E700 does come in several vibrant colours, and looks to have all the modern greebles you'd expect from a super high-end gaming chair, such as 4D armrests, high density molding foam, and real leather upholstery.

Lets just hope it doesn't give us the mopes, like it did to Cheng-Zong.

Having been obsessed with game mechanics, computers and graphics for three decades, Katie took Game Art and Design up to Masters level at uni and has been writing about digital games, tabletop games and gaming technology for over five years since. She can be found facilitating board game design workshops and optimising everything in her path.