Elgato's new mouse mat doubles as a green screen (and it's genius)

If you've stopped by Twitch anytime in the past few years, you've likely noticed that a lot of streamers are using green screens these days. Rather than show the room around them with their webcam, they'll instead use chroma keys and green screens to hide everything except for them, keeping the focus entirely on themselves and the gameplay.

Green screens and streaming now seem to go together like peanut butter and chocolate, so it shouldn't be a surprise to see Elgato's latest announcement: a desk mat that doubles as a green screen. Officially dubbed the Green Screen Mouse Mat, there's probably a few wondering why you'd need a chroma key desk mat, but Elgato makes the case rather effectively.

For instance, many competitive gamers and speedrunners will often have hand cams that show off their hand movements and button inputs. With the Green Screen Mouse Mat, you can treat those cameras just as you would a chroma key webcam and green screen, ultimately covering up less of the game with your hand cam.

There's also the fact that trading card pack openings have become a popular category on Twitch, and using something like this on your desk could allow you to easily use an overlay while the camera is focused on your hands and your pulls. So, if you're a a streamer who regularly uses green screens or has an overhead camera that's focused on your mouse/keyboard, controller, or just desk in general, this could be a good addition to your streaming setup.

Of course, that's all assuming that you're okay with having a bright green mouse mat on your desk rather than one that's more of a neutral color. If that's not a roadblock for you, you can pick up Elgato's Green Screen Mouse Mat from the company's website for $29.99.