How Razer did right by lefties with the Naga Left-Handed Edition

Razer Naga Left Handed Source: Razer

Getting your hands on a quality left-handed mouse isn't the easiest thing in the globe. That goes double for a left-handed gaming mouse. Lefties, therefore, often have to suck information technology up and railroad train themselves upwardly on right-handed mice.

That's zip new, of course. It's a right-handers' globe, and southpaws generally have to get used to doing a lot of things the fashion righties do them. It's just the way things work.

As a left-handed person, I've never questioned this much. I've used right-handed tools my whole life, grew upwardly using exclusively correct-handed mice, and fifty-fifty golfed with righty clubs for my brief flirtation with the sport when I was a kid.

Razer, maker of some of the all-time PC gaming mice, nevertheless, is looking to change that. Non only for left-handed gamers, but also for people with disabilities who may non be able to finer utilize mice created for righties. It's a movement that we've seen a lot of in recent years with things similar the Xbox Adaptive Controller making gaming much more attainable for gamers with disabilities.

On the heels of announcing the return of the Naga Left-Handed Edition, I spoke with Razer's head of sales and marketing, Chris Mitchell, nigh what went into designing the mouse, including the role of the Razer customs in the process.

A community effort

Razer Naga Left Handed Graphic Source: Razer

Razer has been creating left-handed gaming mice for some time, initially introducing the left-handed DeathAdder in 2022. Razer too sold a previous version of the left-handed Naga for massively multiplayer online (MMO) game players, but it hasn't been available for several years.

Deciding to create a left-handed gaming mouse isn't every bit piece of cake equally just mirroring the right-handed version and calling it a twenty-four hours. "Making a left-handed mouse is far more complex than just simply flipping the original pattern effectually—machines need to be re-tooled (from mold to circuitry), and these mice must undergo our total QA checks, testing and certification," Mitchell said. "Only our engineers are upward to the task."

There's the endeavor that goes into the blueprint, of form. But the bigger hurdle, Mitchell said, is validation testing.

"The challenge for left-handed mice was primarily in validation testing, every bit nosotros had to spend significantly more time finding relevant testers to ensure nosotros're on track, which all our products get through," Mitchell said. To go a little help with that process, Razer turned to its passionate customs of fans. Through a defended Facebook grouping, Razer sought out feedback from not only left-handed gamers, simply those with disabilities as well.

"Making a left-handed mouse is complex, simply our engineers are up to the task."

Razer execs, including CEO Min-Liang Tan, kept in frequent contact with the small-scale, merely spirited community of left-handed Razer fans since the determination to bring dorsum the left-handed Naga was made in 2022. This validation testing and feedback from the community was essential in getting things right for the left-handed Naga.

Given the effort Razer went through to create a solid Naga that lefties would corroborate of, I asked Mitchell whether it was harder to blueprint an ambidextrous mouse or one built for specific hands. "Ambidextrous mice are actually harder to pattern as they demand to work for both easily," he said. "Simple things such as button placement on i side can make it the way when they are perfectly placed for the other side."

The numbers problem

Razer Naga Left Handed Edition 2022 Render Source: Razer

Aside from the design hurdles, i major reason we don't run into more than left-handed mice — and, specially, left-handed gaming mice — on the market place is obvious: demand. Left-handed people are simply estimated to make up around ten percent of the population. There just isn't the kind of need most companies require to support all of the retooling and blueprint work necessary to create a dedicated left-handed gaming mouse.

"We have sales data, and it's bleak," Mitchell said. "Starting from 10% of the population beingness left-handed, y'all take a big portion of that away every bit many of them just trained to employ their mouse right-handed. Amongst those that use their left paw, many still use ambidextrous mice, so it becomes a fraction of a fraction. Information technology's far less than i% of the market."

"Nosotros have sales data, and it'due south bleak."

With every left-handed Naga Razer makes, it loses coin, CEO Min-Liang Tan told the Facebook customs in a post terminal Oct. "Essentially, this is a loss-making effort and the reason why we're the ONLY company in the world to brand LH gaming mice is considering we want to do correct by you guys" he said.

Though the demand to support it isn't necessaryily there, Razer wanted to create "something unique" for lefties. Just the correct-handed Naga turned out to be an constructive tool for people with disabilities, so Razer wanted to cater to those who might benefit from a left-handed version likewise.

"The right-handed Naga had the added do good of working well for gamers with disabilities, such as those who accept limited control in their left paw," Mitchell said. "With the large number of buttons on the Naga, gamers with disabilities were able to fully command their gameplay with i hand. In designing a left-handed mouse, we also intended to provide options to those in need of a left-handed peripheral, so the Naga made sense equally the additional buttons cater for those with limited control or motion in their correct mitt."

A hopeful future

Razer Naga Left Handed Edition 2022 Box Render Source: Razer

Right now, leftie Razer fans are ecstatic at the return of the Naga Left-Handed Edition. A look at the Facebook grouping surfaces dozens of posts from stoked gamers, and some have even picked up multiple Nagas to keep a steady supply should this be the last Naga Left-Handed Edition. And that's a very real possibility: this could exist the final one Razer makes if it can't find a manner to "make sure we at least break even and not lose crazy amounts of coin," Min-Liang Tan said in that October Facebook postal service.

However, hope remains that left-handed gamers and those with disabilities will go along to accept support from Razer for the forseeable time to come.

"Nosotros are the only major manufacturer of left-handed gaming mice and nosotros actually offset introduced the left-handed Razer DeathAdder mouse for gamers in 2022," Mitchell said. "Since and then, we have continued to invest time and coin into producing left-handed mice even though it is not profitable. We are all gamers and want to requite our left-handed gamers the best selection."

The Razer Naga Left-Handed Edition is available at present for $100.

Lefties Unite

Razer Naga Left Handed Se Crop

Razer Naga Left-Handed Edition

MMO Southpaws

The Razer Naga Left-Handed Edition gives lefties admission to one of the all-time MMO gaming mice out there.

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