Razer did something to elicit some excitement in gamers yesterday. They brought into their fold a nifty little company known to the world as THX. Back in 1983 George Lucas was blowing away the world with innovation and creativity; Star Wars set an unprecedented level of ingenuity. One such creation was THX. A sound company that Lucas created. Because Lucas wanted to make sure that the movie Return of the Jedi was done correctly. THX has long been a familiar presence to many a movie-goer in the past 30 years. That impressive resonate note vibrating throughout the theater and home.
Razer is now the majority stock holder in THX, but is keeping it as a standalone company. This means that THX will be free to pursue projects with other companies and not exclusive to Razer. Laurie Fincham, the senior vice president of audio research and development at THX said, “For over 30 years, THX has maintained a proud legacy of being one of the leaders in audio technology and certification worldwide. With their focus on quality, design and innovation, Razer supports our vision to optimize and deliver the best audiovisual experiences to audiences worldwide.”
The news of THX still having autonomy was verified by a statement from the CEO, Ty Ahmad-Taylor, “Our focus has always been on ensuring that anyone can experience high quality entertainment, regardless of their medium of choice. With Razer, we can now continue to strengthen our core lines of business while delivering excellence for our customers’ ever-changing needs. As a standalone company, THX will work with Razer but will primarily continue to service our partners in the industry in order to deliver great products to consumers.”
Ahmad-Taylor followed up with a blog post today. When asked why he sold the company he said:
We sold because Razer gives us a rock-solid foundation for executing on the three core areas of business. We will function as a standalone unit. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if we launched a few joint products with Razer.
I am reporting to Min-Liang Tan, the CEO of Razer, and he and I have a shared vision for creating great products that solve customer problems (his in gaming, mine in audio-video.)
If one were to allege that we did the deal solely to get access to discounts on Razer equipment, I would have to demur and suggest that that is a weak and partially accurate accusation. 😉
Now one of the most intriguing questions posed was how this acquisition could effect the gaming industry, to which the reply was:
“We are interested in providing superior audio-visual experiences. As gaming bridges into VR, we expect to play a leadership role in the audio portion of that experience, which is crucial for completion the immersion into virtual worlds.”
Hold on to your horses kids, this could be an exciting ride
