遊戲外設的春天來了 雷蛇估值超過10億美元

Have you heard of Razer?

你聽說過雷蛇公司（Razer）嗎？

Most people that aren’t avid gamers haven’t—but they should. Investors now value the Carlsbad, Calif. video game accessories company at $1 billion, securing it a place onFortune‘s Unicorn List. The company has been on a tear lately, recently expanding beyond mice, keyboards, and other controllers into virtual reality and “micro-consoles” and wearables built on Google’s Android mobile operating system. With winds at its back, it’s a prime target for acquisition by a large company like Microsoft MSFT 3.11% .

除了狂熱的遊戲玩家，大多數人可能沒聽說過，但大家應該瞭解一下。這家公司總部位於加利福尼亞州卡爾斯巴德市，主要做視頻遊戲周邊產品，投資人對該公司的估值已達到10億美元，因此它也在《財富》“獨角獸公司榜”上擁有一席之地。近年來，該公司的增長勢頭非常迅猛，已經從傳統的鼠標、鍵盤等控制設備殺入了虛擬現實、“微主機”和基於安卓移動操作系統的可穿戴設備等領域。它也由此成爲微軟等大公司的主要收購目標之一。

In the video game world, Razer is among the most well-known brands in the business. Peter Warman, a video game analyst at Newzoo, estimates the company’s 2014 revenues to be between $250 and $300 million. With its raised funds—from IDG-Accel China Capital Fund in 2011 and Intel Capital more recently—“they now have the cash to grow these new businesses without losing focus on where they came from,” Warman says.

在視頻遊戲界，雷蛇是全行業最知名的品牌之一。Newzoo公司視頻遊戲分析師彼得o沃爾曼預測，雷蛇2014年的營收估計在2.5到3億美元之間。沃爾曼表示，憑藉雷蛇2011年從IDG-Accel中國成長基金，以及最近從英特爾資本獲得的融資，“他們現在已擁有足夠的資金，完全可以在保障原有業務的同時發展新業務。”

Robert Krakoff and Min-Liang Tan founded Razer in 1998 to introduce accessories such as gaming mice to an audience that was being ignored by traditional technology companies. Today, Razer accounts for approximately 30% of the global video game mouse and keyboard business, according to Ed Zhao, an analyst at video game research firm Eedar. Zhao estimates overall North American video game accessories sales exceeded $2.1 billion last year.

雷蛇公司是羅伯特o卡拉剋夫和陳民亮於1998年共同創立的，該公司主要向不被傳統科技公司重視的遊戲發燒友提供遊戲鼠標等電腦配件。遊戲研究公司Eedar的分析師艾德o趙指出，雷蛇如今已經佔據全球遊戲鼠標和鍵盤市場約30%的份額。他預測稱，去年北美地區的遊戲周邊產品的銷售額超過了21億美元。

But its enormous valuation is likely a product of the company’s high-profile partnership with Tencent in China, which will allow it to integrate WeChat, the Chinese company’s popular messaging service, into its Nabu wrist bands, which are intended for a broad audience beyond hardcore gamers.

雷蛇獲得如此高的估值，很可能是該公司與中國互聯網巨頭騰訊公司締結戰略合作伙伴關係的結果。此項合作使得雷蛇能夠將中國時下最流行的消息應用——微信集成到它的Nabu手環中。Nabu手環是雷蛇爲吸引遊戲發燒友以外的用戶而做出的一次重大努力。

“Razer has an almost ‘cult status’ brand image that it has built up over the past 15 years,” Warman says. “What also sets it apart from most competitors is the range of products that includes both console and PC peripherals, as well as gaming laptops. Razer has always been motivated to use its software with its products, giving them a more continuous relationship with their users. This is an important asset in the broadening of their product portfolio into tablet controllers, smart bands, and the Open Source Virtual Reality platform. These services could open up completely new business models for Razer.”

沃爾曼表示：“在過去15年裏，雷蛇在遊戲圈裏已經建立起了幾乎是‘聖盃’級別的品牌形象。另外，相對於其他競爭對手，該公司的一個重大優勢就是它的產品範圍——除了遊戲機和PC周邊產品外，還包括遊戲專用筆記本。雷蛇一直鼓勵用戶協同使用它們的軟件和硬件，因此他們與用戶的關係也更加持續。正是憑藉這一重要資產，雷蛇正在將產品範疇擴展至平板電腦遊戲機、智能手環和開源虛擬現實平臺等領域。這些服務能夠爲雷蛇開啓一套全新的業務模式。”

Warman believes Razer’s cross-platform focus on gaming enthusiasts could be a good fit for an acquirer like Microsoft, which plans to introduce a PC-console game offering with Windows 10. The OSVR platform may also be of interest to the folks in Redmond.

沃爾曼相信，雷蛇對遊戲發燒友的跨平臺吸引力，非常適合微軟這樣的潛在收購者，後者正計劃推出一款搭載Windows 10系統的PC遊戲機。此外，雷蛇的開源虛擬現實平臺也可能讓微軟產生興趣。

Tan, Razer’s chief executive officer, believes that the company’s independence has been integral to its success. Razer has 400 employees and 10 offices across the U.S., Europe, and Asia. “Whether we are part of a larger organization or we do it ourselves, it’s really what Razer stands for as a brand,” Tan says. “I really don’t think it makes a difference. What makes a difference is that the people within Razer continue to focus on delighting our users all the time and exceeding their high expectations.”

雷蛇公司CEO陳民亮則認爲，公司的獨立性是成功的必要因素。雷蛇公司在美國、歐洲和亞洲共設立了10個辦事處，擁有400餘名員工。“不管是作爲一個大企業的一部分，還是獨立運營，最重要的是雷蛇作爲一個品牌代表的是什麼。我認爲（是否被收購）並不重要，重要的是雷蛇人能否繼續集中精力取悅我們的用戶，並超越他們的高預期。”

Despite competition from companies such as Logitech, Mad Catz, Corsair, and SteelSeries, Razer has distinguished itself by operating as a so-called platform company, rather than as a pure product manufacturer. Still, it dominates: Razer is currently the number-one maker of gaming mice and gaming keyboards in the world and leads the pack in the ultra-competitive gaming headphones market, despite strong competition from Turtle Beach, Astro Gaming, Polk, and HyperX.

雖然面臨着來自羅技科技、美加獅、Corsair和賽睿等競爭對手的競爭，但雷蛇將自己看成了一家做平臺的公司，而不是一個純粹的產品製造企業。即便是這樣，雷蛇依然是行業的龍頭老大：目前雷蛇是全球最大的遊戲鍵盤與鼠標製造商，在競爭異常激烈的遊戲耳機市場上也是一路領跑，將Turtle Beach、Astro Gaming、Polk和HyperX等競爭對手遠遠甩在了身後。

“While other companies either sell hardware or make software, we do both,” Tan says. “And we integrate the software with the hardware really well. If you go on Facebook or Twitter or WeChat we are the world’s leading lifestyle brand for gamers, and gaming has become a larger subculture over the years. And we don’t just participate in the industry. We are focused on pushing core technology as opposed to just making something in China.”

陳民亮表示：“其他公司要麼賣硬件，要麼賣軟件，而我們軟硬件都賣。我們把軟硬件整合得非常好。你到Facebook、Twitter或微信上看看就會發現，我們是全球領先的遊戲周邊品牌。這些年來，遊戲已經成了一種規模龐大的亞文化。另外我們並非只是行業的參與者，我們更注重推動核心技術，而不是簡單地在中國製造什麼東西。”

Razer has an active community of over 3.7 million gamers who not only buy its gaming laptops and accessories, but use its voice-over IP services and purchase Razer-branded clothing. The company has sold over 13.5 million connected devices and has over 11.5 million registered users across its software platform. And it registers approximately 20,000 new gamers daily.

雷蛇擁有一個由370萬玩家構成的活躍社區，他們不僅購買雷蛇的遊戲本和周邊配件，還使用它的VoIP技術，並積極購買雷蛇品牌的服裝。雷設已經賣出了1350多萬臺聯網設備，其軟件平臺擁有超過1150萬名註冊用戶，而且每天新增的註冊玩家都在2萬名左右。

Razer debuted its OSVR platform at this year’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. A dozen companies have since signed on as partners, including Hollywood studio Jaunt and game engine maker Unity. Tan says Razer wants to give game hardware and software companies the ability to develop products that will work seamlessly across Oculus, Sony, Samsung, and other virtual-reality devices. Razer is also developing its own VR controllers for the platform.

在今年的拉斯維加斯CES消費電子展上，雷神首次展出了它的OSVR開源虛擬現實平臺。在那次活動後，已有多家公司成爲了雷神的合作伙伴，包括好萊塢電影工作室Jaunt和遊戲引擎製造商Unity等等。陳民亮表示，雷蛇希望使各大軟硬件公司能夠開發出在Oculus、索尼、三星和其他虛擬現實設備上無縫運行的產品。雷蛇也在基於該平臺開發自己的虛擬現實遊戲機。

It’s also entering the second screen experience with Forge TV, a micro-console that will allow gamers to stream PC games to their TV and also play mobile games on the large screen. And its Nabu X smart band is designed to allow gamers to connect with each other in the real world and share game information. Together, the devices give Razer presence on all four screens that today’s gamer uses: PC, TV, mobile, and wearable.

此外，雷蛇還與微主機公司Forge TV合作，打造所謂的“第二塊屏幕體驗”，使玩家將PC遊戲通過網絡流媒體挪動到電視上，獲得更爽的遊戲體驗，同時他們也可以通過電視玩移動遊戲。雷蛇的Nabu X智能手環還可以使玩家在真實世界中互相溝通，並分享遊戲信息。這樣一來，雷蛇就保證了它在玩家大大小小的四塊屏幕上都佔有不可撼動的地位——PC、電視、移動、可穿戴。

“We see a blurring of lines across all of these four screens and we want to provide a holistic, integrated experience for gamers,” Tan says. “What differentiates us from everyone else is that we are hyper-focused on the gamer. They have an incredibly strong influence on technology.”

陳民亮表示：“我們認爲，這四塊屏幕之間的界限正在變得模糊。同時，我們想爲玩家提供完整的遊戲體驗。我們和其他公司最大的區別就是，我們高度關注於遊戲玩家。他們對科技有着難以置信的強大影響。”

And, Razer hopes, its future revenues.

當然，雷蛇同時高度關注的，還有未來的收入前景。