At the B2B conference Ready to Play, Lorgar General Manager Zsolt Fustos talked with Players Editor-in-Chief Alex Kharchenko and discussed the brand's relaunch.
Big relaunch of Lorgar, 20 new SKUs. Why did you decide to relaunch the brand now?
We see the gaming industry develop, especially inside the gaming industry we see that the racing segment is developing even faster. So this is also why we are focusing on racing solutions even more than normal casual gaming. The reason for the relaunch was that we wanted to do it properly. In previous times, we saw that we lacked some identity, especially the unboxing experience.
We lacked some special feel, touch and brand awareness. This is why we decided to try to completely renew the visual identity and try to come up with a complete solution idea. We are putting a lot of effort into our software development as well. When you buy something from Lorgar, we would like to encourage you to buy the complete solutions.
Not only just products by products, but we're focusing on the full solution for everybody.
So you're basically creating your own ecosystem.
Yes, exactly. From hardware and software all together, this is the approach. The goal is also to help either racers or casual gamers to achieve their gaming goals. And so this is why we have the statistics inside the platform. Players can see how they use their devices, for example, a gaming mouse.
When they click the mouse, what is the achievement rate also in, for example, shooting games etc. They can precisely measure their performance and based on that performance and based on the data that we are collecting, we can also advise the gamers on what to change in their settings, and how to perform better.
That's a little bit tricky question to answer, but if you look at all these new products, what do you love and prefer the most?
It’s a sim racing because I was in sim racing.
So, you had a solid gaming background?
Yes, I started playing with Commodore 64 a long time ago. My first games were Wizards of War and Last Ninja. At that time there was Pitstop, which was already one of my favourite games. If we are talking about sim racing, I started with rFactor. That was, I think, the first real sim racing experience anybody could have. I like the sim racing.
But I also do casual gaming sometimes. For me, sim racing, cooperation with Simagic and the ability that we can provide complete solutions gives the confidence that we will be able to achieve something great with the simulator products.
Will these new products presented today, including the sim racing product line, will be available in Ukraine?
Yes, we are in the stage of starting mass production for most of the products that you saw. Some of them still need some design changes, and some tweaks here and there. But the software is complete.
Most of the products are already integrated. We are still working on the integration of some new products in the software. Other than that, we are aiming for mass production starting this year.
As for the delivery, it depends on product by product. I believe that we will be able to deliver new keyboards and gaming mouses this year. We have some things that we need to do, and some adjustments we need to do with the sim racing.
For example, if we look at the distribution part with Simagic, we are already able to launch it. The first orders have been placed already, and they will be also available in the Ukrainian market as well.
Do you see a big perspective for the sim racing products?
Yes, that’s why we are separating our products. We created a product line, from advanced to elite solutions. We are starting now with the launching of advanced products. Everybody who is into sim racing or wants to try it, with a little investment, can try it.
Then they can decide if they like it or not. Based on their preference, we encourage players to upgrade to the new levels.
You launched the Lorgar Platform, a command centre for statistically enhanced gaming. How long did it take you to deliver it?
The core development took us about two years. It’s a continuous process of improvement.
Now we are at the stage when we can confidently say that it's a good product, it's a good software, it's a good platform. It’s usable and gives the data, what the user needs and what we need.
We are also using this data to improve our products. Now it's in the final stage. I can say that in the future, we just need to add certain products and develop those parts, which we think it's crucial.
In your presentation, you mentioned that you are planning to host another Lorgar Cup in the next year. Are you planning to expand more in the esports scene right now?
Yes, our approach is to build a community around Lorgar. We want to be a brand that is not only selling gaming products to people but also is a part of the community. As you see in the sim racing, but also in CS2, Valorant and other disciplines, we would like to encourage people to become part of our community and start using Lorgar devices.
We are aiming to expand. First stage next year, we would like to have our events. And later on, by country by country, we are trying to get more involved in the local communities as well. This is going to be a global challenge, and we would like to have the most valued influencers start playing, to show people how they can use our devices, and then we are going to get into the local communities.
Previously Ukraine was part of the Lorgar Cup. Will the next event include Ukraine as well?
Yes, of course.
What about tournaments in other disciplines? Valorant?
There will be basically three events. Three separate events, three months. For all of the events where we are playing or all the titles, we are planning to aim for these countries for the beginning, including Ukraine.
What about sim racing tournaments?
It's a very good question. Part of our sim racing team is a part of the community. They know how to approach the community, and we would also like to start having our event.
But first, we also need to think about how we can approach these people, and how we can grab them. Because this community is still a little bit scattered, and it's not that popular in every country. We need to do some research from country to country, on how we can organize these tournaments.
In these kinds of tournaments, it's also crucial to have a good internet connection, to have good equipment, and it's really hard to, for example, carry this equipment around. If we do an online event, it's a totally different story. But we also need to make sure that the circumstances are equal for everybody.
In terms of the events, will you be doing online only or offline as well?
We would like to do also offline events. We're aiming for both, but we would like to be also doing offline. It's more appealing for the customers.
We would like the customers to be able to feel and touch the products, interact with the products, and also get to know the platform as well.
You announced a lot of new products. What’s ahead for Lorgar?
The biggest challenge now is to start the production and distribution process to be able to provide the customers with the goods. The next step is to create brand zones in retail stores, so everybody who is going there actually can try the products.
I think it’s going to take a lot of time next year, and also the tournaments that we are planning to host. We are not stopping here, because product development is also a continuous process. We launched around 20 new products but when we will know that these products are final, we are going to step up and start developing new products. Also based on the data that we are collecting from these products, we are going to be able to improve them.
