Oakley Gaming and Aqipa announce Pan-european partnership

Our partner Thali has long been a strong player in the gaming field with brands like Razor, Nintendo, Nitro and Playstation. Aqipa has worked hard to make serious inroads into the field and we believe we have found a likeminded partner to enter the gaming sector. We are super proud to announce the partnership with Oakley® Gaming.

Oakley, being part of the global eyewear giant EssilorLuxottica  is known amongst athletes for its sports performance glasses but as recent as 2021 has made significant inroads into E-sports. The company’s name appeared as a sponsor on the Optic team jersey during the Call of Duty League 2022 Major tournament back in March and on the Optic’s Valorant team jersey in the Valorant Champions Tour 2022: Stage 1 championship held in Iceland.

 As if that wasn’t proof enough of their intentions, in 2021 the company signed Optic team member Seth “Scump” Abner as the first and only professional esports player to their roster of Team Oakley sponsored athletes

Earlier this year in May Oakley signed a multi-year sponsorship agreement with Envy Gaming.

With this agreement, the sunglasses designer will have its name included on the official jerseys of all Envy Gaming teams, including Optic Halo and Valorant and their Call of Duty league team, Optic Texas. Envy merged with Optic last year.

Additionally, Oakley will be the official eyewear sponsor for all of Envy’s teams, which means that all the company’s players will be wearing prescription lenses designed by Oakley themselves during their competitive matches. This will also include the first eyewear created for adult gamers called NXTLVL. 

Envy and OpTic Gaming, which merged in late 2021, are two of the most storied brands in esports, and a driving force in the rapid growth of fan culture around esports and gaming-as-entertainment over the last 15 years.

“The world of esports is continuing to grow and it’s key that we continue to level up our commitment to the world of gaming,” Corey Hill, head of global sports marketing at Oakley, said in a statement. “New athletes are showing up in the scene every day and we pride ourselves in making sure we provide advanced eyewear for gamers of every level. Teaming up with a partner like Envy Gaming allows Oakley to reach talent and build on our offerings in the space.”

Even though they have a number of sponsorship deals within the sports industry, this is the first time that Oakley makes an investment within the world of esports. This new partnership deal will help them reach the difficult to approach market group of 18-to-35-year-old people, who are the ones most interested in the world of esports. Reports show that the audience for the industry is still growing, with the U.S. alone experiencing a 11.5 percent increase in viewership compared to last year.

Viggo Olsen, VP Business Development at Aqipa was quoted saying: “The team at Aqipa is very proud to have convinced the Oakley leadership team in Europe to work with Aqipa for it´s distribution in Consumer Electronics. Being true to our pan-European positioning Oakley entrusts us with the distribution in 8 markets. The partnership is taking effect still this year and gear gurus are being trained as we speak to deliver the best possible experience and insights into the world of PRIZM Gaming for our retailers. “

The announcement of the new partnership comes on the heels of the latest product launch of Oakley Gaming. On October 20th, Oakley® dropped its newest Gaming Collection, featuring the new Prizm Gaming ™ 2.0 technology. This launch represents the celebration of the brand’s continued pursuit to support the gaming community and empower the next generation of gamers.  

Oakley’s newest lineup of gaming-centric eyewear including NXTLVL and Admission combined with existing headset compatible frames such as Pitchman R, Holbrook™ and Holbrook™ XS, all come equipped with the newest generation of Prizm Gaming™ 2.0 technology. Uniquely optimized to attenuate light from the newest of OLED and LED screens, Oakley’s proprietary technology reduces by 30% the blue light exposure from LED within the 400–500 NM range.

Doing so, it helps eyes stay comfortable during long gaming sessions and it is engineered with specific Oakley lens designs that help you see more clearly. These upgrades add up to a new level of performance, giving gamers enhanced visual contrast and sharper vision for an optimized performance on the field of play that will help players react faster and play longer.

The new Oakley Gaming Collection featuring Prizm Gaming™ 2.0 is available with Oakley Authentic Prescription lenses or without, for all wearers to enjoy the benefit of Oakley’s gaming lenses.

Please don’t hesitate to contact your local sales representative or our central product manager for gaming Nicolas in case of questions or if you want to be among the first retailers in CE to launch this exciting new product category.

Images: (c) Oakley, EssilorLuxottica