There can be no doubt that the video gaming industry is growing at
a rapid pace. There has, however, been one section of the industry that has
always been a few miles behind the rest. Competitive gaming has always
struggled to be acknowledged as a respected discipline and because of this it
lacks in support from corporate sponsors. The financial sector sees gaming as
only entertainment and a frivolous pass time hobby.
But the eSports landscape is changing. The watchful eye of the
business sector is turning its attention and its corporate wallet towards eSports.
Today I want to introduce you to one such company, meet Corex Alliance.
I caught up with Alan Lowell
Spohr, the Gaming Channel Manager, for a peek into how exactly Corex views
gaming, the SA community and eSports.
What is
the Corex vision?
“Corex is here to reinvent the South African Distribution channel and
initiate a paradigm shift which will run hand in hand with the gaming community
of South Africa. PC Gaming is a division of the Corex brand which emphasizes
the requirement of performance and uniqueness that each gamer in South Africa
wants. With that being said, we ensure that our services can accommodate the PC
gaming community which is growing at a fairly rapid pace.”
When
compared to other distributors, what are Corex offering South African gamers
that are unique?
“PC gaming is a unique culture of the IT market in itself and
wants the same uniqueness from the industry. We at Corex offer the gamer an
ageless experience of what is here and to come, that is being enjoyed all over
the world. We love the competitiveness enjoyed by all in the PC gaming culture.”
Corex
prides itself in not just being a distributor, but aims to form an integral
part of the SA gaming community. Can you share some of those plans with us?
“Becoming part of the community is not only about offering top
quality brands, but it's about developing and being part of the current growth
in the gaming community, showing an active involvement in gaming LANS such as
the NAG LAN at Rage. Gaming is also about being unique and different and quite
frankly "fun", so Corex has also showed the support behind developing
our own local Cosplay event at rAge and we are also running an interactive
Facebook and twitter experience where by any gamer of any shape and size can be
involved, speak their mind, have their questions answered and be ahead with any
gaming technologies.
We also show active involvement by supporting our local
gaming hero’s, in fact we are currently already looking for respected teams to
sponsor for future development, in the hopes to get South Africa recognized as
a major player in international gaming events.”
In your
opinion, what does the future hold for gaming in SA?
“It is becoming more competitive and looking where some countries
are globally, I believe South Africa is very close. We will see an explosion of
new gamers coming to the party with higher competitiveness and their own unique
requirements. Corex is geared up for this fast pace transition and we see this
culture growing stronger and bigger. Peripheral product selection is key for
each gamer, the experience is to be comfortable, yet feel like you are living
in the game and this will definitely play a huge role in the near future of
gaming in South Africa with Corex making this available to the community.”
What have
your experience been like with the local gaming and Cosplay communities?
“We are very lucky in that Corex has a number of gamers working
here as well as cosplay enthusiasts, and they give us a lot of insight into
these communities. It gives us an insight into how they think, their likes and
dislikes, and helps with our engagement of the community at large. The
communities themselves are very active, fun, and willing to tell it like it is.
We thoroughly enjoy our engagements with the diverse set of people we get to
interact with and they constantly help us fine tune our product offering and
help us understand new and coming trends and they actually give us an edge that
goes a long way to building our strategies.”
Support Corex: Website | Twitter | Facebook | YouTube
Closing
thoughts
Companies like Corex have the power to push gaming in South Africa
to the next level. Investment from corporates has been the principal component
lacking in pushing eSports SA through the current stalemate it has been stuck
in. Corex is surely not the only company that has been showing an interest in
the local gaming community, but what I genuinely like about it is the sense of
alliance one gets when dealing with them. We thank them for the interest in our
community, may we do great things together.
Han’s Twitter | Blog