It started with a passion for gaming, which eventually turned into a passion for the machines and technology it takes to game. And like a lot of PC gamers, Shazim Mohammad began researching parts and products to find the best ones for his setup.
There is an online sub-community that believes PC games are superior in nearly every way to console games, such as Xbox and PlayStation. However, as he got more and more into the world of PC gaming, Mohammad noticed there was one issue. While PC gaming was supposed to be the highest level of gaming, the products marketed and designed specifically for gaming tended to be low-quality and high-priced.
So what started as an online joke about the state of PC gaming became a quest to develop better and better products, and Glorious PC Gaming Race was launched.
“Basically it was like robbery almost… I was like 'hey this is a problem, I want to do something better.' That’s kind of how Glorious started, from our first product it was always we want to create a cool product for gaming that doesn’t have any kind of marketing or lingo buzzwords around it that falsely advertise what it really is - we’re going to be honest and were not going to overcharge for it,” Mohammad said. “The way I kind of saw it was hey if this is a product that I’m willing to use and I’m happy with it, then there’s going to be other people who are happy with it.”
Plano-based Glorious PC Gaming Race was launched in 2014. The company’s first product was an 18x36 mousepad, after Mohammad noticed gamers online using gun mats instead because they fit both the mouse and keyboard.
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Following the success of the mousepad, Glorious took their startup concept to the larger PC gaming community. The company put out essentially a call for pitches from gamers for the products they would like to see created. Now Glorious’ lineup of products includes everything from keyboards to mice and wrist rests.
“That’s one of our core values, really listening to what our enthusiasts basically wanted and constantly improving… it’s been a huge part of our success and where we are today,” Mohammad said. “It’s worked really, really well... we’ve definitely seen that what we’ve done is definitely making a difference because some of the larger companies are following suit on kind of a formula that we’ve developed and worked on. It’s exciting to see that and it kind of gives us the validation that we’re going down the right path.”
Since its launch, Glorious has been entirely bootstrapped. The team of about 30 employees designs and manufactures its own products. Mohammad said that keeping its production in-house has allowed Glorious to quickly spot new trends and fix issues faster than many competitors. The company has also relied entirely on word-of-mouth advertising to grow its brand.
In keeping with its transparency, Glorious puts out reports on the problems encountered during development, fixes that were made and steps taken to improve on the next design.
“We want people to know that we’re a company that sticks to our values and we’re going to be dedicated to providing transparency and honest products to everyone who wants to come and give us their business,” Mohammad said. “We’re not going to lie. Whenever we put out a product, we’re going to do whatever we can to make it as perfect as possible, but inevitably there will be problems that come up and how we respond to them and our customers is what is important to us.”
"We want people to know that we’re a company that stick to our values."
The success of Glorious can also be seen in the rise of esports both locally and nationally. North Texas is home to a number of esports teams, as well as an esports stadium in Arlington. In addition, Frisco will be hosting the LCS Spring Finals in April. Across the country, esports is expected to become a $1.5 billion industry by 2023, with a viewership of about 646 million people. Mohammad attributes this rising trend to the increased accessibility of games, as well as the expansion of esports teams to high schools and universities around the country, noting that DFW is home to a large amount of developers and others working in the gaming space.
“I think esports in general has become more accessible to everyone… 15 years ago if you would have been a gamer and said, ‘I want to make this my career,’ people would have thought you were crazy, I think that there are games out there now that allow you to do that,” Mohammad said. “I think it’s an opportunity that was ignored for a long time but now that as technology is developing and more people have access to more devices and computers and all that stuff, I think that’s being more accepted.”
As Glorious looks to the future, Mohammad said the company plans to continue to grow its brand and reputation in the PC gaming community. In addition, the company has plans to release new products, including a new mouse and a keyboard update, among other things.
“As we’ve grown, we’ve just gotten more access to resources that we didn’t previously have access to, so we're using that plus our experience with everything we’ve learned to always go back, revisit and make our products better,” Mohammad said.
