It appears that Elgato has brought to market ahead of AverMedia an external capture device that can record 4K-resolution games at 60 frames per second and supports HDR; AverMedia had teased such a device before CES, and Elgato has launched it. Well, sort of.

Elgato's new 4K60 S+, announced at CES, can be ordered directly from Elgato or from Amazon for $399.99, which actually equates to a pre-order; Amazon's estimated ship date is 1-2 months and Elgato's checkout page says 3-4 weeks later In other words, Elgato is not a pre-order. In other words, Elgato leaves open the possibility that AverMedia will ship a similar capture solution first.

Either way, the 4K60 S+ is coming. Until now, recording 4K gameplay at 60 fps required an internal capture card and, of course, an accompanying PC; there are external solutions that can record 4K gameplay, but as far as I know, they all max out at 30 fps.

The 4K60 S+ is also unique in that it does not require a PC. Users can record 4K HDR content directly to an optional SD card at 60 fps. According to Elgato, on-board HEVC encoding makes file sizes manageable, and pass-through ensures zero latency.

While a PC is not required, it can still be used and has certain advantages: when connected to a PC, the 4K60 S+ records unlimited footage directly to a hard drive, flashback recording for easy retroactive storage of gameplay, and microphone audio as a separate track

"You can take advantage of multifunctional Elgato software features such as live commentary," Elgato states.

"Unlimited video" means that recording will continue as long as there is HDD or SSD storage capacity. Still, it may be possible to record more gameplay than with SD cards, which have less capacity; Elgato also states that the 4K60 S+ is compatible with popular broadcast software, including OBS Studio.

If using a PC, Elgato states that a 6th generation Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 7 processor, 8GB of RAM, a GeForce GTX 10 series or better GPU, and a USB 3.0 port are required.