Razer aims to kickstart the esports scene in Malaysia

The acclaimed gaming hardware brand, Razer, have taken big steps to boost their presence in South East Asia by opening a new company headquarters in Malaysia. Their new offices will be in Bangsar South, and it’s hoped that the move will help Razer focus their fintech endeavours in the nation and boost the Malaysian esports scene as a whole.

At a press conference hosted by Razer’s CEO, Min-Liang Tan, the new project was unveiled as being the brand’s hub for fintech in the region. Whilst most gamers know Razer for their dedicated gaming laptops, the brand has also been exploring other revenue options such as the burgeoning fintech industry.

This can be seen through the introduction of the Razer Pay platform. In less than one week of launching this e-wallet, there were 500,000 users who had signed up for the payment service. Razer Pay was set up to offer young people a convenient and safe way to pay for goods in the online domain.

However, Razer Pay has since expanded its features to include everything from instant messaging and in-app coupons. Plus with big plans to even allow the Razer Pay e-wallet to be used for paying for car parking in certain areas, it’s hoped that this could pave the way for a cashless society in Malaysia.

In their bid to fight off rival fintech competitors such as Boost and GrabPay, Razer will be making sure that their brand name gains plenty of exposure with the country’s gaming community. This will be made clear when Razer was announced as being the official esports partner for this year’s SEA Games.

The SEA Games will take place in December in the Philippines, and they will be notable for the fact that it will mark the first time that esports has been included as a medal sport in a major traditional sports tournament. Razer won’t just be the official esports sponsor for this, but they will also be supporting Team Malaysia at the 2019 SEA Games.

It’s all part of Razer’s vision to try and unite Malaysia’s fragmented gaming community and help the nation compete on the global stage. In addition to this, Razer have stated that they will also invest in higher learning programmes to ensure that the country’s new generation of tech talent can reach their true potential.

But it’s not just in Malaysia where Razer have been getting busy. The tech brand also unveiled their new landmark building in Singapore. This huge development is expected to house 1,000 workers who will help to develop new products and services for Razer.

It comes at a time where Razer has been struck by a difficulties that saw them laying off a significant number of their workforce. Thanks to a hasty exit from their smartphone project and the closing of their games store, it looks like Razer are making some tough decisions as to how to position themselves in the ever-changing tech marketplace.