THX, the audio technology firm founded by George Lucas and famous for its signature “Deep Note” sound, has been acquired by Razer, an 11-year-old PC gaming company.
THX announced Monday that Razer acquired the company’s assets and hired its employees and management teams to run the business, which will operate as an independent entity. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
“Razer has a vision for innovation at every level of entertainment, a vision which THX has championed since its inception more than 30 years ago,”Razer co-founder and CEO Min-Liang Tan said in a statement announcing the deal. “This acquisition will allow us to reinforce Razer’s leadership in gaming and extend the brand into broader areas of entertainment, while at the same time empowering THX to develop into a global powerhouse, independently.”
“Our focus has always been on ensuring that anyone can experience high quality entertainment, regardless of their medium of choice,” Ty Ahmad-Taylor, CEO of THX said in the statement. “With Razer, we can now continue to strengthen our core lines of business while delivering excellence for our customers’ ever-changing needs. As a standalone company, THX will work with Razer but will primarily continue to service our partners in the industry in order to deliver great products to consumers.”
Lucas formed THX in 1983 as, essentially, a quality-assurance system, lending its name as a certification to cinemas — and later, home theaters, car audio systems and video game consoles, among others — which were equipped with a certain standard of high-fidelity audio.
This year, the company premiered its THX Live! live-entertainment certification during Beyonce’s “Formation World Tour.” The company plans to expand its THX certification program to include headphones, immersive audio and eventually, virtual and augmented reality.