GLORIOUS describes itself as a company focused on customisation, quality, ecosystem, and performance, with a broader mission of providing gamers with equipment that can be personalised to their own setups.[1]

2014: The beginning

GLORIOUS was established in 2014 when founder Shazim Mohammad, an avid PC gamer, identified a gap in the enthusiast gaming market. At the time, high-quality oversized gaming mats were difficult to source, leading many gamers to use improvised or inadequate surfaces. According to the company, Mohammad was inspired after seeing a Reddit user utilise a gun-cleaning mat as a mousepad. With an initial investment of approximately $1,000, he launched what GLORIOUS describes as the world’s first XXL gaming mousepad.[1]

This origin story is central to the company’s identity. Rather than emerging as a traditional electronics corporation, GLORIOUS grew directly from the PC enthusiast and online gaming community.

2016: GMMK

A significant milestone occurred in 2016 with the introduction of the GMMK (Glorious Modular Mechanical Keyboard). Designed around hot-swappable mechanical switches, the GMMK allowed users to change switches without soldering. GLORIOUS describes it as the world’s first modular mechanical keyboard.[1] This release helped establish the brand as more than just a mousepad manufacturer and secured its position in the emerging custom mechanical keyboard market.

2019: Model O

GLORIOUS entered the gaming mouse market in a major way with the launch of the Model O in 2019. The mouse emphasised extremely low weight, honeycomb-style construction, gaming-focused performance, RGB lighting, and competitive pricing. It became one of the company’s signature products and helped popularise the category of ultralight gaming mice. GLORIOUS itself cites the Model O as one of the early ultralight mice that helped define this segment.[1]

2022: Rebranding

On 19 April 2022, the company officially changed its public branding from Glorious PC Gaming Race to simply GLORIOUS. The original name was intentionally based on the internet-era “PC Master Race” gaming meme. However, as the company expanded internationally, it determined that the old name no longer represented the broader community it wished to serve.[1] The rebranding introduced a new visual identity and positioned GLORIOUS as the primary brand name, although existing products continued to appear with the older branding during the transition period.

Mechanical keyboards

Keyboards represent one of GLORIOUS’s most important product categories. Its best-known family is the GMMK line; while the original GMMK established the company’s reputation for hot-swappable boards, later products expanded significantly into the enthusiast and custom keyboard market. For example, the GMMK 3 emphasises extensive modularity and is marketed as a highly customisable keyboard with nine points of modularity, allowing users to modify appearance, performance, and typing feel.[1]

The company’s keyboard ecosystem includes mechanical keyboards, hot-swappable PCBs, mechanical switches, keycaps, cases, components, and accessories. This breadth makes GLORIOUS particularly relevant to enthusiasts who enjoy building and modifying keyboards rather than purchasing fixed configurations.

Gaming mice

GLORIOUS gained significant recognition in the gaming community through its lightweight mouse designs.

• Model O: One of the company’s flagship products, associated with the rise of ultralight gaming mice. Its design philosophy prioritised reducing unnecessary weight while retaining gaming-oriented performance.
• Model D: This family takes a different approach, utilising a more ergonomic, right-handed shape.
• Model I: Expanded the lineup towards a feature-rich ergonomic design with additional programmable controls.

The company has continued to develop these families over time, including wireless variants and newer-generation models.[1]

Mousepads

Mousepads were the product category that launched GLORIOUS. The original XXL mousepad was designed for gamers requiring a large surface to accommodate both keyboard and mouse, which proved particularly useful for low-sensitivity FPS players who require extensive mouse movement. The company subsequently expanded into multiple mousepad materials, sizes, and performance characteristics.

Switches and keycaps

GLORIOUS also operates within the mechanical keyboard component market. Its ecosystem includes mechanical switches, keycaps, stabilisers, and other keyboard accessories. This aligns with the company’s philosophy that gaming hardware should be customisable rather than one-size-fits-all.[1]

The identity of GLORIOUS is largely defined by four core concepts:

Customisation

Customisation is arguably the most distinctive characteristic of the brand. Rather than treating keyboards and mice as finished products, GLORIOUS promotes the idea that gamers should be able to configure their equipment around personal preferences. This is most visible in its mechanical keyboard ecosystem.[1]

Performance

GLORIOUS targets gamers who prioritise specific performance characteristics, including mouse weight, sensor accuracy, switch response, keyboard latency, typing feel, mousepad friction, and build quality. The company describes its products as being designed for “elite-level performance.”[1]

Community

Community involvement is central to the origin story of GLORIOUS. The company grew from Reddit and PC enthusiast communities rather than a conventional consumer electronics background, with early development heavily influenced by gamer feedback.[1] GLORIOUS continues to describe itself as a community-driven brand.[1]

Aesthetics

Significant emphasis is placed on the appearance of gaming setups. Products commonly feature minimalist shapes, RGB lighting, black and white colourways, translucent components, and modular designs. This allows the hardware to function both as gaming equipment and as part of a user’s overall battlestation aesthetic.

The transition from Glorious PC Gaming Race to GLORIOUS represents a significant chapter in the company’s history. The original name was deliberately provocative and deeply connected to PC gaming internet culture. However, the company eventually concluded that it was too closely tied to an older meme and did not adequately represent its increasingly global audience.

In 2022, GLORIOUS explained that the shortened name was intended to represent ideas such as pride, passion, power, and positivity, while making the brand more accessible to a broader community.[1] Consequently, the modern brand can be viewed as having two distinct eras:

• 2014–2022: Glorious PC Gaming Race — an enthusiast, meme-driven, Reddit and community-oriented identity.
• 2022–present: GLORIOUS — a broader international gaming brand focused on customisation, performance, aesthetics, and community.

Shazim Mohammad founded GLORIOUS in 2014. A PC gaming enthusiast prior to starting the company, he identified an opportunity to create better peripherals based on problems observed within the enthusiast community. His initial approach was grassroots: identify a problem, build a product to solve it, and use the gaming community as a source of feedback.

The leadership structure has evolved since the company’s founding. In 2023, Pat Wachendorf was announced as CEO, while Mohammad was described as Founder and Chief Visionary.[1]

What began as a small operation in Dallas has developed into an international organisation. GLORIOUS states that it has grown from a team of one in 2014 to a worldwide organisation with team members in more than 15 countries.[1] The company now sells a broad range of PC gaming hardware, with an ecosystem encompassing keyboards, mice, mousepads, switches, keycaps, and various gaming accessories.

Materials marking the company’s 10th anniversary specifically highlight the original XXL mousepad, Model O, and GMMK PRO as products that helped establish the brand.[1]

GLORIOUS occupies a unique position between mainstream gaming hardware and the PC enthusiast custom hardware market. While traditional peripheral companies tend to emphasise ready-to-use products and custom keyboard manufacturers often target enthusiasts comfortable with assembly, GLORIOUS attempts to bridge these markets. Its products are generally designed to be accessible to ordinary gamers whilst remaining interesting to enthusiasts, offering customisability, performance orientation, and distinctive visuals. This positioning is particularly apparent in the GMMK keyboard ecosystem.

The importance of GLORIOUS in the PC hardware market stems less from manufacturing standard peripherals and more from bringing enthusiast-oriented features into products that are relatively accessible to mainstream gamers. The GMMK line helped make hot-swappable mechanical keyboards more approachable, while the Model O contributed to the growing popularity of ultralight gaming mice.

The company sits at the intersection of three communities: PC gaming, mechanical keyboards, and gaming enthusiast culture. Its history illustrates how online communities, particularly Reddit and enthusiast forums, can influence the development and commercial success of consumer hardware.

As of 2026, GLORIOUS presents itself primarily as a gaming hardware and customisation brand rather than simply a mouse or keyboard manufacturer. Its current mission centres on empowering gamers to create setups that are uniquely their own, with a portfolio spanning customisable keyboards, gaming mice, switches, keycaps, mousepads, and accessories.[1] The company describes its four principal brand values as customisation, quality, ecosystem, and performance.[1]

GLORIOUS is a community-born American PC gaming peripherals brand that grew from a $1,000 mousepad project in 2014 into an international manufacturer of customisable keyboards, lightweight gaming mice, and PC accessories. Its most significant contribution to gaming hardware has been its emphasis on making enthusiast features—especially hot-swappable keyboards and ultralight mice—more accessible to a wider gaming audience.[1]

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