Business is booming at this gaming company despite the corona pandemic

The corona pandemic has shocked the global economy, and countless companies are struggling to survive. Hardly any industry has gotten away with nothing. One of the few winners, however, is the gaming group Razer, whose business has been booming since the outbreak of the corona virus.

‘Stay at Home‘

Worldwide, the corona pandemic is forcing people in many countries to distance themselves socially and, if possible, to stay at home to curb the spread of the virus. The economy suffers from this. The markets are in shock and hardly any industry is still in the black.

The hashtag 'stayathome' has been circulating on social media for several weeks, so 'stay at home' in order to adhere to the exit restrictions in solidarity.

But Min-Liang Tan, billionaire and CEO of gaming hardware company Razer , prepared himself and his company early for the lockdown. The company operates 16 offices and five sales outlets worldwide, including in China, the United States and South Korea - including those countries that have been particularly hard hit by the spread of the virus.

The gaming business is booming

Even weeks before the corona crisis had fully developed, Tan had posters with the words "Stay Home and Game On" ready. In doing so, he appealed to consumers to consume more video games during the quarantine. With the campaign, however, he also pursued the goal of keeping Razer's sales stable.

"Gamers are destined to stay at home and play games," said the CEO in an interview with CNBC.

The company has a large following of loyal fans among its customers, which is why Razer is able to thrive despite the pandemic. "Recently, during the whole Covid situation, we saw gamers' activity skyrocket. Everyone is stuck at home and we could see more people online than ever before," said Tan.

Razer donates protective masks

But Razer is not the only beneficiary of the pandemic, the entire gaming scene has been booming since the virus put the world in a state of emergency. The American telecommunications provider Verizon also reports a 75 percent increase in video game consumption. 1.2 billion games were downloaded to smartphones within a week, more than ever before.

Sahiba Puri of Euromonitore International, speaking to CNBC, said, "Gaming and e-sports in and of themselves have become an entertainment option. Over the past few years, the level of investment in this area has increased dramatically."

The corona pandemic has now contributed to the fact that the gaming scene was able to grow faster in a very short time than in previous years. Razer is using this profit, among other things, to fight the virus. The company wants to produce one million protective masks itself and then donate them worldwide.

To this end, the group has converted some production halls to meet the increasing demand for protective masks. Razer also plans to provide additional mask production capacities.