Razer USA Ltd snake logo

 

Razer is a privately held computer peripherals manufacturer specializing in products specifically marketed to gamers. Originally started in the 1990s, it suffered a period of dormancy during the millennial change and has then seen a resurgence, with new products released during 2004 and 2005, and has been constantly growing ever since, despite the financial crisis at the end of 2008. The Razer brand is currently being marketed under Razer USA Ltd. Razer's main slogan is 'FOR GAMERS, BY GAMERS'.

 

History

Razer was founded in 1998[1] by a team of engineers and marketers to develop and market a high end computer gaming mouse, called the Boomslang, targeted specifically to computer gamers. It was positioned as the world's first 2000 dpi mouse and purported to give greater control and accuracy to gamers who used it. Its name in Chinese is 雷蛇 (lit. thunder snake), which is the name for the Round Island Burrowing Boa.

 

Razer was one of the first companies to sponsor gamers, which directly contributed to the emerging pro-gaming phenomenon. Johnathan "Fatal1ty" Wendel was among one of twelve of the first wave of Razer sponsored gamers and is still currently active in pro-gaming. Razer was also the first company to sponsor teams and donate prize money for team events Counter-Strike in 2001. Razer continues to support major global tournaments and esport gaming teams and individual professional gamers. Razer co-develops their line of products with teams and gamers.

 

2004-2008

 

The Diamondback Plasma

 

In 2004, Razer released an optical mouse called the Viper. This was followed by a 1600 dpi optical mouse named the Diamondback.

 

In the following 4 years Razer extended its mice portfolio and adding a range of Keyboards, Audio Peripherals and Mousing Surfaces.

 

2009–2010

Razer announced that its next step was to move into the console peripheral market by revealing a Controller ( Razer Onza ) and a Headset for the Xbox 360. They've also showcased their upcoming motion control technology for the PC, the Sixense TrueMotion now called Razer Hydra.

 

2011

At Consumer Electronics Show 2011, Razer unveiled the Razer Switchblade, a handheld gaming device prototype, which won the Best of CES 2011 People's Voice award. Razer's CEO Min-Liang Tan together with co-founder Robert Krakoff and a representative from Intel were featured in the launch video. The prototype featured a multi-touch screen and 45 buttons, each of which is a LCD screen that adapt dynamically to whatever game the user selects. The device is comparable in size to the Nintendo DS system, having dimensions of 172mm x 115mm x 25 mm, though the switchblade is noticeably larger. The prototype had both 3G and Wi-Fi support to allow for online access in a wider range of locations. The device was also shown to have USB 3.0, mini-HDMI, and standard headphone and microphone jacks. The Switchblade used an Intel Atom processor and ran a version of Windows 7 in the demonstrations. No price or release date was given for the device, it being only a prototype, however, they stated that they are working with "select partners" to produce products based on the Switchblade.

 

In August 2011, Razer created a teaser site claiming that PC gaming was not dead. The site contained a countdown to August 26, 2011, and was coupled with a full page advertisement in the Wall Street Journal. On August 26, 2011 the site forwarded to the homepage for the new Razer Blade, Razer's first laptop, claiming to be the "first true gaming laptop". The design featured a touchpad on the right side in order to make laptop usage more comfortable for games, and ten customizable touchscreen buttons with customizable icons. The Blade was met with mostly positive initial reviews. Gaming news site Kotaku.com claimed that the Blade may "save Windows laptops forever" and was going to be the "future of PCs". However, the starting price of $2,800 was met with criticism. The CEO of Razer responded to these criticisms, saying that the price could have been brought down had the product been thicker, heavier, and without the switchblade interface.

 

2012

The highly anticipated Project Fiona was unveiled at CES. A new mouse, the Naga Hex, is also being released. Unlike the previous Naga mice, this one has only 6 thumb buttons and is designed for use with multiplayer online battle arena games such as Dota 2, League of Legends and Heroes of Newerth. At E3 2012 Razer also unveiled another new mouse by the name of Taipan. This mouse uses two laser sensors to give it 8200 Dpi and higher accuracy.

 

Razer's final release for 2012 was a 4G dual laser gaming mouse, called the Razer Ouroboros. It shared many features with the Taipan, such as its dpi, with the central new addition being that the mouse was Razer's first physically customisable mouse (i.e. the palm rest could be adjusted for length and angle, and finger rests could be added).

 

Min-Liang Tan, Founder & CEO of Razer Inc., announced new version of Razer Blade laptop with $2499.99 in PAX Prime 2012.

 

2013

At CES 2013, Razer showed their Razer Edge tablet computer which was previously known as Project Fiona. The tablet uses the Windows 8 operating system, and is designed with gaming in mind. The Razer Edge has several docks that are attachable to the device, including a keyboard or handlebar controllers. There is also a console mode to which you can attach controllers.

 

Products

Razer's products are generally targeted at gamers. The bulk of Razer's products are PC peripherals including mice, audio devices, keyboards, mousepads and gamepads. Razer has also released a laptop (the Razer Blade).

 

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). The Razer Blade laptop and Razer's Project Fiona tablet, announced at CES 2012, are the only exceptions.

 

Most Razer products are generally met with positive reviews. However, Razer products have also been the target of heavy criticism.

 

Ergonomics on many of Razer's ambidextrous mice are criticized,while the thumb buttons on the Copperhead, Diamondback and Lachesis are easy to reach, the side buttons on the opposite side can be extremely difficult to reach, as the user has to temporarily give up control of the mouse to press them. Razer's Starcraft 2-branded mouse, the Spectre, is marketed as an ambidextrous mouse, however the mouse has no thumb buttons on the right side of the mouse available for left-handed users. Razer products also have been known for having "low build quality" as their cords sometimes develop shorts, their buttons ghost-click, their mouse wheels make a loud squeaking noise, and glossy plastic comes off as very cheap. To combat this reputation, most of Razer's recent products have a notably higher build quality, such as the addition of braided USB cables, and the release of updated drivers and firmware.

 

In August 2010, Razer's newly announced Onza Xbox 360 controller was banned from competitive play in Major League Gaming's games and tournaments. The ban was met with mixed reactions from both supporters and opponents to Razer's new controller. Supporters of the Onza claimed the MLG administrators banned the controller because the Razer-rival Mad Catz was developing a MLG-branded controller at the time. However, the official reason for the ban was due to the Onza's two multi-function programmable buttons. MLG administrators also stated they had spoken to Razer engineers about the ban before the official announcement, hoping Razer would create a version of the controller without the extra programmable buttons.

 

In early March 2011, Major League Gaming released new rules for the game Halo: Reach that removed the ban on the Razer Onza controller on the MLG Pro Circuit, allowing gamers to use the Razer Onza legally in competitive play. However, the MLG ban still remains for the game Call of Duty: Black Ops.

 

When Razer started selling their first tablet computer Razer Edge and Razer Edge Pro on March 1, 2013, the Razer Edge Pro proved so popular that it sold out after 10 days, 20 days before the release.

 

In April of 2013, an unofficial coupon code went viral across the internet, granting a 90% discount on all products in Razer's UK store. Thousands of orders were placed before Razer addressed the issue , leaving the company with a large amount of pending orders to contend with. Instead of cancelling the illegitimate orders, Razer's CEO, Ming-Liang Tan, released a statement outlining the company's plan to honor single purchases made with the code. Despite the large financial loss associated with the illicit sales, Tan cites the company's policy of placing the customer first as reason to honor the sales.

 

Professional Gaming

Razer is also very known for sponsoring many professional gamers and gaming teams. The professionals that they sponsor vary from a wide variety of games, such as League of Legends, DOTA, World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, and many more. Razer also sponsors professional gaming competitions and events.