Robert Krakoff, co-founder of Razer, has died aged 81, the company has confirmed.
“We are saddened by the passing of co-founder and president emeritus, Robert Krakoff, known by everyone as RazerGuy,” said the statement.
“Robert’s unwavering drive and passion for gaming lives on and continues to inspire all of us. Thank you Rob, you will be missed.”
Krakoff was a key figure in bringing the first dedicated gaming mouse to market in 2000. When the company making the Razer Boomslang went bankrupt, he co-founded Razer in 2005 alongside current CEO Min-Lian Tan.
We are saddened by the passing of Co-Founder and President Emeritus, Robert Krakoff, known by everyone as RazerGuy. Robert’s unwavering drive and passion for gaming lives on and continues to inspire all of us.
Thank you Rob, you will be missed. pic.twitter.com/2HKNcFaOj2
— R Λ Z Ξ R (@Razer) April 28, 2022
At Razer, Krakoff would become the public face of the company and would include messages from “RazerGuy” in all Razer products, encouraging feedback from gamers. He also helped launch a left-handed gaming mouse, the first of which launched in 2010. Aside from his work at Razer, Krakoff was also a published author.
The company went on to become one of the biggest and most recognisable gaming brands around, creating payment system Razer Gold and the Blade laptop as well spearheading the entire peripherals market. As Tan said in 2019, “essentially we created not just a product, but this entire industry.”
The industry lost a visionary today and I lost a mentor and friend. I owe my career and the foundational bedrock of my knowledge to this man, Robert “RazerGuy” Krakoff. He was an amazingly kind person. He was the father of gaming hardware and will be missed by all who knew him. pic.twitter.com/CkTALZbnG3
—
TRAVIS! (@wannlund) April 27, 2022
Travis Wannlund, former Razer employee and Red Bull’s senior director of esports, described Krakoff as “a visionary who saw gaming as a competitive sport before anyone else.”
“There is no PC hardware company out there that doesn’t owe a debt to the trail he blazed and the vision he had. He saw what could be and taught so many of us to see the same. I see his fingerprints everywhere in this industry. However, I know he would hate me saying that. He was humble to a fault, never one to take accolades, never one to think of himself first. He described his time at Razer as his ’15 minutes of fame’ and always downplayed his role,” continued Wannlund.
Omfg A PIONEEER OF THE GAMING WORLD….R.I.P. https://t.co/aJZsCIXOJf
— PTIN FKU! yay NANCY PELOSI went to UKRANE (@KINGTRUMPUSLIAR) May 2, 2022
#RazerGuy
A FUCKING WARRIOR-GAMER🥹
WHO CARED ABOUT US GAMERS*Not one of us can thank him enough.Brothers like him should be living forever
I hope all gamers pause and reflect on him and his family AND his game family also
We love an will miss you #Razer
https://t.co/nUI8BLoLCb
— B120 (@boss120gb) May 2, 2022
Robert Krakoff, co founder of RAZER and the father of the gaming mouse passed away last week at the incredible age of 81 years old. Even if most of us don’t know your name. We all owe you a huge debt for making gaming peripherals what they are today. R.I.P LEGEND
— Drew
thank you for the innovations. the strides we’ve made in gaming would have never been possible without this man.
Thank you for the gift of play, RazerGuy. https://t.co/RjhdOI10c3
— Dani (@TheWrongWayDani) May 1, 2022
Razerguy Krakoff was a pioneer for gaming peripherals. Creating @Razer and releasing cutting edge products- I cannot imagine what the gaming peripheral space would look like without him. My first Razer mouse was DEFINITELY not my mothers trackball mouse… #RIPRazerguy
— Tehbantha (@tehbantha) May 1, 2022
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