Razer CEO says pandemic will change sports and entertainment forever as live-streaming comes to the fore

The coronavirus pandemic now sweeping the world is forcing more entertainment venues and sports teams to go online, changing the face of these pursuits forever, according to gaming hardware maker Razer.

Although the company faced some supply chain issues at the outset of the Covid-19 outbreak in China, it is now firing on all cylinders again producing more live-streaming gear to meet increased demand from consumers and businesses, said Razer chief executive and co-founder Min-Liang Tan in an interview with the Post this week.

Tan said Razer is joining forces with Singaporean nightclub Zouk Group and live-streaming company Bigo Live to host online rave parties via live-streaming. During the event, the audience will be able to chat with DJs as well as send them virtual gifts by using Razer’s virtual credits.

“I believe that after this outbreak, behaviour will change dramatically,” said Tan. “So … when clubs [for example] go back to normal, they're not just gonna have the offline clubs, they will continue with streaming.”

Cloud raves have met success before.

In China last month, nearly 2.3 million people reportedly tuned into Beijing club SIR TEEN's live concert in February. Clubs in Shanghai have also reportedly been able to rake in millions of yuan in revenue by hosting online music events on Douyin, China’s version of ByteDance’s TikTok.