Razer Inc.

Razer Inc.

Type	Private
Industry	Computer industry Computer hardware Consumer electronics Application software
Founded	2005
Founders	Min-Liang Tan Robert Krakow Matthew Thompson
Headquarters	Irvine, United States
Key people	Robert "Razerguy" Krakoff (Chairman) Min-Liang Tan (CEO)
Products	Gaming, Laptops, Mice, Keyboards, Headsets, Mousepads, Xbox One Controllers, Xbox 360 Controllers, Watch's, Software
Number of employees	400 (January 2015)
Subsidiaries	Ouya (Software only)
Slogan	For Gamers. By Gamers.
Website	www.razerzone.com

Razer USA Ltd snake logo

Razer Inc. (stylized as RΛZΞR) is an American company founded by Min-Liang Tan, Matthew Thompson and Robert Krakoff, which specializes in products marketed specifically to gamers. Razer is dedicated to the creation and development of products mainly focused on PC gaming such as gaming laptops, gaming tablet computer, various PC gaming peripherals and accessories. The Razer brand is currently being marketed under Razer USA Ltd. Razer has become a very popular brand among PC gamers around the world.

History

Razer was founded in 2005 by a team of marketers and engineers to develop and market a high end computer gaming mouse, the Boomslang, targeted to computer gamers.

At Consumer Electronics Show 2011, Razer unveiled the Razer Switchblade, a handheld gaming device prototype.^[1]

At CES 2013, Razer unveiled its Razer Edge gaming tablet computer, which was previously known as Project Fiona. The tablet uses the Windows 8 operating system and is designed with gaming in mind.^[2]

In May 2013, Razer unveiled the 14-inch Razer Blade and 17-inch Razer Blade Pro gaming laptops with 4th-generation Intel Haswell processors. The Razer Blade 14-inch portable gaming laptop was dubbed the "world's thinnest gaming laptop" which weighed just 4.1 lbs., while the 17-inch screen Razer Blade Pro featured the built-in 'Switchblade' LCD display.^[3]

At CES 2014, Razer unveiled Project Christine, a modular gaming PC. Each of the branches on the PC is a discrete component—a CPU, a GPU, a hard drive, memory—that simply plugs into the central backbone. Once slotted in, Project Christine automatically syncs the newly added module through PCI-Express (the same serial bus that discrete graphics cards and other components currently use).

In July 2015, Razer announced it was purchasing the software division of video-game company Ouya.^[4]

At Consumer Electronics Show 2016, Razer has been selected for People's Choice Winner for Razer Blade Stealth Ultrabook.The company won last year for the Razer Forge TV, and this year, it takes home the prize for the Razer Blade Stealth Ultrabook, a super-slim gaming laptop.^[5]

Products

The DeathAdder 2013 Edition

Razer's products are generally targeted at gamers. Razer's products include gaming laptops, gaming tablets and PC peripherals including mice, audio devices, keyboards, mouse mats and game-pads. Razer has also released a VOIP software called Razer Comms. The Razer DeathAdder gaming mouse is the company's most popular product by sales numbers. Most Razer products are named after predatory or venomous animals, ranging from snakes (mice), insects (mouse mats), arachnids (keyboards) over marine creatures (audio) to felines (console peripherals), with the Razer Blade laptops and Razer Edge instead named after bladed objects.

Gaming laptops

• The Razer Blade series is a series of gaming laptops developed by Razer and include the 12.5-inch Razer Blade Stealth, the 14-inch Razer Blade, and the 17.3-inch Razer Blade Pro.

Gaming tablets

• The Razer Edge (also known as Razer Edge Pro) is a gaming tablet PC developed by Razer specifically for games which run on Windows OS.

Chroma Series

• In late 2014, Razer released their Chroma series of products.^[6] All Chroma series products have customizable RGB lighting. The first item in the series was the Blackwidow Chroma. The Blackwidow Chroma is a keyboard that has some new features added onto the original Blackwidow keyboard. After the first Chroma product was released, Razer has continued to add products to the series, such as the Razer DeathAdder Chroma. They have also added their RGB lighting onto another mouse they recently released called the Razer Mamba and though it features Razer’s customizable RGB lighting, it does not have the Chroma name in it. A new version of the Razer Diamondback gaming mouse was also released and also features customizable RGB lighting.

Wearables

• The Razer Nabu is a smart band developed by Razer with features such as mobile app notifications, fitness tracking, and more which was first released in December, 2014.^[7][8] In 2015, Razer released a new version of the Razer Nabu called the Razer Nabu X.

Gaming Controllers

• The first gaming controller Razer released was the Razer Onza. It was released in late 2010, followed by the Razer Sabertooth which was released in 2013. In 2015, the Razer Wildcat gaming controller was announced, available for pre-order and was in stores by October 2015.

Based on information on Engadget, Razer’s products have always been aimed towards gamers.^[9]

Timeline

2015

• Team Razer sponsors Team Eager.
• Team Razer sponsors Estrell.
• RazerStore opened in the Thailand.
• RazerStore opened in the Philippines.
• Evil Geniuses wins The International 5

2013

• Team Razer sponsors Evil Geniuses.
• Team Razer sponsors Alliance.
• Team Razer launches CLG DeathAdder 2013 model.
• Team Razer launches Evil Geniuses Taipan, BlackWidow and Goliathus products.
• Alliance wins The International 3.
• Team Razer nets over 180 podium placements.
• Team Razer nets $3.5 million in prize money.

2012

• Team Razer sponsors Counter Logic Gaming – launches CLG DeathAdder and CLG Goliathus eSports edition.
• Team Razer launches the Team Liquid Goliathus eSports edition.
• Razer sponsored Taipei Assassins win the RIOT Season 2 finals.
• Razer sponsors the Team Liquid Star League.
• By the end of the year, Team Razer sponsors over 50 competitive gaming teams worldwide, with more than 400 gamers in 35 countries.
• Team Razer nets $3 million in prize money.

2011

• Razer commences partnership with Team Liquid, StarCraft II community and professional team.
• Razer sponsors the IGN Pro League 3.
• Razer sponsors SlayerS BoxeR, Team Liquid, Manaflask, and Method.

2010

• Razer sponsors the Intel Extreme Masters.
• Razer sponsors Korean organization 'WeMade Fox'.

2009

• Razer launches the Razer Sphex eSports editions with Sky, Team Dignitas, Meet Your Makers, and Mousesports.

2008

• Razer sponsored Warcraft III professionals Xiao Feng "Sky" Li and Jaeho "Moon" Jang bear the Olympic torch through China in advance of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
• Razer sponsors Evil Geniuses.
• Razer sponsors the Electronic Sports World Cup Germany.
• Razer sponsors the Intel Extreme Masters III.

2007

• Razer establishes an office in Seoul, Korea, to focus on extensive testing with professional gamers.

2006

• Razer continues to sponsor the CPL, with renewed support for Quake and Counter-Strike.
• The Razer DeathAdder is launched, quickly becoming one of the most popular mice in competitive gaming.
• Razer Comms is formed

2005

• Razer sponsors the Cyber Athlete Professional League (CPL) with $100,000.
• Razer becomes the first official sponsor of Jonathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel.
• Razer holds Quake Invitational in Sweden at Café Nine; sponsors four other professional Quake players.

Team Razer

Razer has partnered with many professional eSports teams and players, who are collectively known as Team Razer.

Teams

• Team SlayerS
• Evil Geniuses
• Team Liquid
• Team Dignitas
• Counter Logic Gaming
• Mousesports
• CJ Entus
• KT Rolster
• Team Titan
• Mastermind e-Sports Club
• paiN Gaming
• Hanoi Full Luois
• Luminosity Gaming
• Unicorns of Love
• Estrell

Players

• Lim "BoxeR" Yo-hwan
• Jonathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel
• Jonathan "Loda" Berg
• Justin Wong
• Lee "Flash" Young Ho
• Lee "JaeDong" Jae-Dong
• Lee "NaDa" Yoon Yeol
• Jang "Moon" Jae Ho
• Stephen "Snoopeh" Ellis
• Henrik “Froggen” Hansen
• Andy "Reginald" Dinh
• Alexei "Cypher" Yanushevsky
• Li "Sky" Xiao Feng
• Ken "SephirothKen" Hoang
• Kevin "PPMD" Nanney
• Adam "Armada" Lindgren
• Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma
• Yusuke "EG Momochi" Momochi
• Gabriel 'FalleN' Toledo
• Nordan "Rain" Shat
• Lee "Infiltration" Seon-woo (since November 16, 2015)
• Kun Xian Ho

Notable tournament sponsorships

• IEM (Intel Extreme Masters)
• CPL (Cyber Professional League)
• WCG (World Cyber Gamers)
• BWC (Blizzard World Championships)
• ESWC (Electronic Sports World Cup)
• IGN Pro League 3
• GSL (Global StarCraft II League)

See also

• Agilent Technologies — manufacturer of some of Razer's mouse sensors until its spinoff of Avago
• Avago Technologies — manufacturer of some of Razer's mouse sensors until it left the mouse sensor business and licensed its mouse sensor technology to PixArt Imaging
• Keyboard technology

References

1. "CES People's Voice Award". CNET. January 8, 2011. Archived from the original on January 19, 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-20.
2. McWhertor, Michael. "Razer Edge gaming tablet is Windows 8 laptop, console and 'Steam Box' in one". Polygon. Retrieved 2013-01-08.
3. Portnoy, Sean. with %5b%5bIntel%5d%5d %5b%5bIntel Haswell|Haswell%5d%5d processors-7000016154 "Razer launches 14-inch Blade, 17-inch Blade Pro gaming notebooks with Intel Haswell processors" Check |url= value (help). zdnet. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
4. Razer Purchases Ouya’s Software Business - Geek Inspector, 27 July 2015
5. http://www.engadget.com/2016/01/08/presenting-the-best-of-ces-2016-winners/
6. "Razer - For Gamers. By Gamers. - Razer United States". Razer. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
7. "IGN Asia". IGN Asia. Retrieved 2015-09-06.
8. "Razer Nabu X Smartband".
9. "Engadget | Technology News, Advice and Features". Engadget. Retrieved 2015-09-06.

External links

• Official website