Video game hardware maker Razer has evidently acquired THX, the audio tech company that’s best known for the cavity-rumbling sound which accompanied its logo appearing before the lion’s share of movies in U.S. theaters during the ’80s and ’90s.
Devs should note that Razer is buying up the majority of THX’s assets and all of it staff, affording the company (which is best known for selling PCs and PC game peripherals like light-up mechanical keyboards) a newfound wealth of audio-visual technology.
What this means for the future of both cojmpanies remains to be seen. In a Medium post THX chief Ty Ahmad-Taylor claims that while THX will continue to operate as a standalone business (which means Razer just effectively bought its way into the audio tech business) doing things like certifying audio equipment and collaborating with audio hardware makers, though it will also likely collaborate with Razer more closely on future product releases.
Moreover, Ahmad-Taylor writes that “as gaming bridges into VR, we expect to play a leadership role in the audio portion of that experience,” and of course Razer has its own (OS)VR headset and is heavily invested in the OSVR ecosystem.
THX, incidentally, though remembered best as the film audio tech venture founded by George Lucas in 1983, was spun out of Lucasfilm in 2002 and sold off (via a 60 percent stake) to audio tech firm Creative Labs. Creative remained the majority stakeholder in THX until Razer acquired it this year for an undisclosed sum.
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2016