HyperX is closing 2018 like a rock star.
The gaming unit of Fountain Valley-based Kingston Technology Co. is on pace to hit $550 million in revenue this year and has a new partnership with rap and social media sensation Post Malone.
To top it off, the gaming unit announced on Nov. 16 that it won exclusive naming rights through 2020 to Allied Esports’ global flagship property at the Luxor Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
The 30,000-square-foot, multilevel venue is now HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas.
The deal includes a prominent retail presence, co-branded events and promotion of HyperX-featured personalities, esports athletes and influencers there.
HyperX, Kingston’s fastest-growing business line, has now shipped more than 60 million memory components and 5 million gaming headsets since 2002, when it introduced its first memory products geared for gamers, computer enthusiasts and systems builders.
The unit has grown to more than 100 employees around the world, though that’s still a small percentage of companywide employment of more than 3,000. Kingston is Orange County’s largest consumer electronics maker, with estimated 2017 revenue of $6.7 billion, according to Business Journal research.
The gaming unit’s accessories segment, which includes headphones, keyboards and mice, is up 120% year-over-year, driven by its growing position in the booming esports sector.
HyperX now sponsors more than 30 organizations, 90 professional gaming teams and 550 professional players, as well as several top-tier esports tournaments and events around the world, including Eleague and Intel Extreme Masters.
Party Like Rock Star
HyperX moved into the traditional sports segment last year, becoming the official headset of National Basketball Association teams like the Dallas Mavericks and Philadelphia 76ers.
Post Malone, a headliner at the Rolling Loud music festival on Dec. 14 at Banc of California Stadium in Los Angeles, marks a shift into the music industry for HyperX, which has amassed a cadre of brand ambassadors, primarily from the video gaming and professional sports worlds.
“Now we’re looking at the entire music industry,” HyperX Corporate Marketing Director Dan Kelley told the Business Journal. “The underlying theme is there’s a huge passion for gaming.”
Under the agreement, announced in October, the hip-hop star and avid gamer will wear HyperX headsets while streaming his favorite titles, such as “Call of Duty” and “PUBG,” and will be featured in HyperX marketing campaigns next year.
The face-tatted showman, who collected several top honors this year at the American Music Awards, the MTV Video Music Awards and Billboard Music Awards, has nearly 40 million monthly Spotify listeners, second only to fellow rapper Drake, who tops 46 million.
On social media, Malone has built a similar following through his outlandish style, such as wearing full-body jumpsuits and plastic printed-croc shoes.
He gets publicity in unusual places, such as when Postmates, the delivery service of meals and other products, blogged that Post Malone was its top customer, having spent more than $40,000 on 600 orders in a 400-day period.
“Leveraging his likeness and social following is right there on the nose of what the benefit would be for HyperX,” Kelley said. “A lot of the data that we looked at and reviewed suggested music, just in general, has a really good crossover to gaming.”
Esports
The Esports Arena made a splash in 2015 with the establishment of the first dedicated gaming venue in North America in downtown Santa Ana. It typically draws hundreds of members from around the world for weekly events and competitions.
A multimillion-dollar investment last year by Beijing-based Allied Esports, which took a majority stake, fueled the Las Vegas expansion to take over the site of a former nightclub called LAX.
The venue has staged popular esports entertainment events, such as Ninja Vegas ’18, and recently announced two major events in December: League of Legends All-Star 2018 and Capcom Cup 2018. The arena has nightly tournaments, including Friday Frags and Saturday Night Speedway.
HyperX kicked off its newest branding initiatives in October as a sponsor of the inaugural Posty Fest at the Dos Equis Pavilion in Dallas, where musicians Tyler, the Creator and Travis Scott also performed.
HyperX plans to build on the momentum entering the new year.
“We are building something very big for 2019,” Kelley hinted. “There’s some very big things in play.”
