MANILA, Philippines – Gaming peripheral company Razer may very well be going beyond the gaming sphere by announcing that it acquired audiovisual company THX.
TechCrunch reported the acquisition news on Monday, October 17, adding the audiovisual company will be "spun out" and operated as a "startup" that will be recapitalized by Razer.
The report added THX will also be run independently under the existing management – led by Ty Ahmad Taylor out of San Francisco – and will be focused towards developing new things.
Razer said in a statement the deal's details were not going to be disclosed.
Trying new things
Razer CEO Min-Liang Tan said Razer is a fan of THX and its history as an audiovisual company.
He explained, "THX has one of the biggest brands when it comes to movies or music. Audio files, films, we think of the THX brand in audio as akin to what Razer is in gaming."
He added that due to the library of intellectual property THX has in audiovisuals, Razer aims to improve its content and products through the acquisition of the company.
"There is a lot of potential to extend it into newer areas that interest us, like virtual reality and live streaming,” he said. An example given was in improving acoustics for virtual reality environments to improve how real the virtual world sounds.
Competing with Razer?
While Razer taps THX for its own projects, THX will be given the freedom to pursue additional projects, some of which may compete with Razer's own interests.
THX head Ahmad-Taylor said working with the competition has long been part of the the company's storied history. Said Ahmad-Taylor, "We were owned by Lucasfilm and Disney and had no problems working in the distribution chain.”
He added, “We are agnostic with respect to platform.”
Laurie Fincham, 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," Fincham added, "Razer supports our vision to optimize and deliver the best audiovisual experiences to audiences worldwide."
THX is Razer's second acquisition after acquiring the digital platform assets of the Ouya gaming platform. – Rappler.com