How do you view your co-operation with the big gaming organizations? Take MeetYourMakers for example.

Gaming is such a tightly-knit universe, where the web of instant communications means that what we say and do is instantly heard ‘round the world.’ Because of this fact, our co-operation with gamers, teams, event promoters, developers and certainly big gaming organizations are critical to our growth and future. It might be interesting to know that in the ten years that we have been making gaming products, we have never believed in paid advertising. Razer’s amazing growth has come from the close relationships we hold with our customers through organizations such as MYM, WCG, CPL, WSVG, GDC and countless others.

Managers and players are always talking about what they need and which sponsors they could get. What are the real benefits of a sponsorship for the sponsor? What are you exactly expecting from a esport organization in return of your support?

As teams are evolving into business operations, the expectations are changing. I can only speak for Razer when it comes to our needs and expectations. First, we look for teams where the players have some longevity and are under contract with their team. While the team name is important it’s the individual players and their personalities that we look to build on. Essentially, a player that is happy with the team means that the team is making sure that they can focus on playing well which can only help the esports scene.

We don’t just want a number of robotic gamers wearing our logo and competing with our products. Those were the old days of sponsorships. Today, we look to players who help us develop better products, validate our concepts, challenge our thinking and get involved to the max.

 

Esport is going more professional year after year, with organizations like G7 being created. Do you think someday esport will be recognized as a real form of sport, and have its own spot at the Olympic games? What do you think can still be done to reach that goal?

I have always believed in this dream and have said so in my blog and in countless interviews. I’m still waiting for this to happen and honestly I’m surprised and somewhat frustrated that we don’t seem to be any closer than we were five years ago.

To reach this goal, gaming needs a better and more universal governing organization. This group would need to select the games that non-gamer viewers can and will watch and it needs sponsors outside the hardware and software industry to finance such an endeavor. I honestly doubt that such a league run by a select group of teams can pull this off and be impartial at the same time.

Will Razer expand their productline to also contrain lifestyle products besides computer peripherals?

Our mission as a company has always been to remain focused on gaming products. However, if and when we discover new technologies that will improve people’s lives or enjoyment, we always remain open to such prospects.

Be honest. What do you expect to see from electronic sports in the future? Do you think it will succeed and become a fully accepted sport?

Here’s the challenge as I see it … the vast majority of non-gaming adults just don’t get it. They have no idea what gamers do, how rewarding it is to play or to watch. They lump all games into hack ‘n slash bits of violence and view all gamers as socially misfit nerds. If this is ever to be an accepted form of mass viewing entertainment, acknowledged by the non-gamer community, then it badly needs a makeover and publicity guru to lead the way.

The CPL’s organizer, Angel Munoz, has had this very dream and pursued it over the last 9 years. Even with all his hard work to promote the values of gaming through the media, I believe he has only just scratched the surface.

Somewhere, somehow the world of gaming needs one huge organized world body, like the NBA or NFL, that can create the proper image to draw in the press, attract the right sponsors, television networks and then even more fans will flock to the sport. The X-Games did it.