Gaming hardware brand has made a slew of announcements around esports and streaming, including a wellness program, EU Invitational and new gear for streamers.
Razer launches esports wellness program
Razer has announced the ‘Champions Start from Within’ esports wellness program, which seeks to promote healthy and sustainable gaming habits.
It will collaborate with psychologists, physical therapists, nutritionists and other experts to provide resources in the form of videos, articles, contacts and events, designed for pro and amateur gamers.
With a focus on four key verticals – physical activity, mental health, sleep, and nutrition – Razer will run workshops and panel discussions, featuring experts in esports health and wellness such as Dr. Jordan Tsai, esports physical therapist at Respawn Therapy, Crystal Mills, a former pediatric trauma surgical technologist who is currently the VP of content for Ritual Motion, Dr. Drew Schwartz, chiropractic physician at For the Wellness, as well as pro players from Team Razer, which consists of orgs around the world.
Gamers can set up meetings with physical therapists, doctors and other professionals.
The EU Razer Invitational is back
Razer has revealed that the Razer Invitational – Europe (RI-Europe) will be returning on October 14th 2021. This year, RI-Europe will include mobile as well as PC gaming.
Razer said the inaugural tournament in 2020 engaged more than 12m viewers and almost 50,000 athletes from six countries across the region, and one again the RI-Europe Season 2021 is open to all gamers from across Europe.
Taking place from October 14th to November 7th, the tournament will kick off with Brawl Stars and will be followed by Fortnite and Valorant.
This year’s RI-Europe is broken into four week-long legs dedicated to competitions in three uniquely curated titles. In each tournament, up to 9,000 competitors will battle it out for cash and hardware prizes from Razer and Intel.
The competitions will culminate with a grand finale for prizes worth more than €20,000 in cash and hardware prizes. Every week, there will be three days of tournament play, with qualifications and playoffs taking place on the first two days, reaching a peak with finals happening every Sunday.
For more information on Razer Invitational – Europe, visit the official RI-Europe website.
Razer unveils the Kiyo X Webcam and Ripsaw X Capture Card for up-and-coming streamers
Razer has expanded its streaming line-up to offer starter webcams and capture cards, the Kiyo X and the Ripsaw X respectively, as go-to gear for up-and-coming streamers.
The Razer Kiyo X USB webcam delivers the choice of either Full HD clarity or 60fps streaming, with either 1080p 30fps or 720p 60fps. With customisable settings in Razer Synapse, streamers can customize video settings on the fly while utilising built-in auto focus.
The Kiyo X comes with Razer Virtual Ring Light software, a customisable lighting app that utilises the PC monitor as a source of illumination, for lighting during video calls and streams.
The Razer Ripsaw X dedicated capture card delivers video quality up to 4K resolution at 30fps. Using both HDMI 2.0 and USB 3.0, it promises a near-zero latency connection with maximum detail for content from any compatible source device, including DSLRs and other hand-held cameras with HDMI output.
The Ripsaw X offers a plug-and-play capture card solution without having to install hardware directly into your PC tower, and is compatible with popular streaming programs.
Razercon returns for round two
Razer has announced that RazerCon is set to return for its second run on October 21st 2021. The digital event is produced by Razer and its network of partners and will apparently be its first ever completely carbon neutral gamers’ livestream.
In October 2020, the inaugural RazerCon peaked at over 1m concurrent viewers.
This time around, viewers will be plugged into the Razer ecosystem with access to news and exclusive reveals from Razer’s selection of hardware, software and services.
RazerCon 2021 will be streamed across Razer’s social network channels, including Twitch, Facebook, YouTube, and TikTok.
The preshow is scheduled to begin at 4pm BST, with the keynote kicking off the event at 6pm BST, and is expected to end at around 2am BST.
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
