Yes, you read the title correctly. Razer has gone completely out of the box with their latest gaming peripheral. Well…an ‘edible’ peripheral, that is. Razer has termed this product “Respawn by 5”, created in collaboration with Mars Wrigley’s 5™ gum.
This is Razer’s second product in the edible lineup, after they released the Respawn Energy Drink Mix in 2019. The gum is available in 3 flavours: Cool Mint, Tropical Punch and Pomegranate Watermelon. Mint is a perhaps the most common flavour of any chewing gum out there; it had to be there. The latter flavours are interesting, with the Pomegranate Watermelon being the same flavour as the Energy Drink mix. This product is priced at a whopping $27.99 for a 10-pack, consisting of 150 pieces. Currently it’s available on the Razer Website.
Respawn initially emerged as a joke from an April fool’s idea way back in 2010, where people asked the brand to make energy drinks for gamers! Razer saw this opportunity, and began tinkering with what they call “Project Venom”. Fast forward to 2019 and 2020, and we already have two edible products, especially crafted for gamers! Razer claims that the product was made with sufficient R&D, part of which came from studying the daily habits, game timings and overall session timings, and ofcourse the snacking habits of gamers; casuals and pros.
The sugar-free chewing gum is formulated with B vitamins and nutrients such as green tea extract. Razer has stated that the gum will help retain the increased mental focus needed while gaming, while also stimulating the reflexes to increase reaction time. One single stick of gum has less than 5 calories, claims Razer. The gum is black in colour, but it definitely DOES NOT paint your mouth black after consumption, reviewers have claimed. Phew, that’s a relief!
“RESPAWN was created to address the clear market for food and beverage products in gaming that help players maintain focus and mental agility during gameplay, without the intense rush provided by many energy products”
SEAN DRISCOLL, SENIOR PRODUCT EVANGELIST FOR RESPAWN LTD.
Gamers often find themselves in hour-long sessions of grinding, often skipping a healthy sleep, and even pulling on all-nighters at times. Many of us are heavily dependent on Caffeine for this adrenaline rush to keep us going and to get rid of the sleep. Hence, Razer wanted to create a product which gamers could consume anytime, and hence the ONLY source of caffeine in the chewing gum is the “green tea extract”.
Any edible product definitely calls for a taste-test. While we at L.A.G. haven’t really got our hands on this product, someone out there has already got your back. It’s none other than your peripheral-guy: randomfrankp. Here’s his video about this…edible peripheral.
OVERALL:
The gaming market is greatly evolving. With ultra-lightweight mouse and smaller ‘tkl’ keyboards to even smaller ‘60%’ keyboards – a kind of revolution is going on. While this product might seem bizarre, it’s not really very surprising. Targeting a specific audience with a never-seen-before product is actually genius and might just work in their favour.
Gamers are known to spend money on anything with the attribute “gaming”. (I’m a gamer. I know, trust me. My wallet is always empty. ;-; ) And once again, customer specific products have always existed. Athletes have always used special energy drinks and other products catered specifically to their fields, to keep themselves notched up. The same formula(e) would ofcourse not work with an eSports athlete. As a result, Razer, with Respawn has ventured into this new field, and I welcome this venture with open arms. Let’s see if this becomes a trend within the gaming industry, with more edibles catered to the gamers flooding the market. We’ll be sure to keep you posted; we got your back. Till then keep gaming, and keep following RedJacket.
