Razer’s Pebble Choo on how the Viper V3 Pro became the mouse of champions

You may have seen our review of the Razer Viper V3 Pro mouse. This is the mouse that helped Zachary "zekken" Patrone win Kickoff and Masters Madrid during the 2024 VALORANT Champions Tour. We absolutely love it, and were given the chance to speak with Razer on what exactly goes into making a championship caliber peripheral.

We got in touch with Pebble Choo, the Senior Product Evangelist for all Razer mice products. Needless to say, she is very proud of the mouse we reviewed, and gave us some amazing insight into how it came to be. This includes brainstorming, testing, and more.

Let's dive in to how one of something like this becomes reality.

The Viper V2 was the first product launch for Pebble at Razer. At that time, they were already looking at working on the Viper V3 Pro and getting the esports-centric mouse to the masses.

She noted that trends in demand are always changing, therefore the creative idea of the V3 began almost immediately. They looked to users of the V2 to determine what was "wrong" with it, so it could be improved with the Viper V3 Pro.

At events like BLAST and IEM Sydney, Razer dished out samples of their mice, simply carrying them around in a bag. Blind tests occurred, where testers picked their favorite, as different coatings, shapes, and mouse feet were presented.

According to Pebble, just about everyone desires larger mouse feet. So, they took all of the feedback from the start and questioned their sponsored pro players, to get their input regarding the Razer Viper V3 Pro. And that's where it all starts.

When you have a successful product already in place like the Viper V2 Pro, you build from that with the help of those who use it and support it. Razer and its esports players worked hand-in-hand to design what they know is the perfect mouse for competition.

Competitive gamers, whether they are grinding a game's ranked system or playing for a trophy in front of a global audience, are the main demographic for the Razer Viper V3 Pro. Thus, it was essential to get feedback from those looking to win world championships.

Surprisingly, though many people said the mouse feet were an important factor, 60% of the pros that tested said they couldn't tell the difference in size. What was important important and noticed, however, was the feel of the mouse in their hand.

There are different grip-styles for PC gamers. You've got your palm grip, your fingertip grip, and your claw grip. All three of those grips were taken into account when making the Viper V3 Pro. No matter how you hold the mouse, its design and weight make it feel exactly the same.

Everything matters when it comes to the weight of the Razer Viper V3 Pro. Even how to charge the device. Wireless charging would add a couple of extra grams for the interior components needed. Giving it a solid amount of battery life, but keeping its charging feature as wired meant no additional weight.

After all of that professional player feedback has been noted, that's when the fun begins. They start to make prototypes of the mouse, made based upon the feedback given, and allow them to test what may very well turn into the final product.

The Viper V3 Pro has won championships, at a regional and global level in VALORANT. It truly is a Razer mouse meant to elevate your competitive play at the highest levels. And the championship victories are proof of that.

But with this being marketed to esports players, what considerations were made to alter it from a typical Razer product?

The explosion of demand for RGB and "feature-packed" products is definitely where Razer got their footing. But player needs and trends started to change, with requests for less flashy devices and more useful ones.

That's when the lowering of mouse weight became a hot topic in the industry. At one point, believe it or not, 70 grams was considered lightweight for a mouse. Now, anything above 60 has players feeling like they're lifting an anvil.

And that's why the Razer Viper V3 Pro sits at 54g for the Black version and 55g for the White. It is all about finding the balance, because again, pro player feedback stated less than 50g was a bit too light for their liking.

So, we've already mentioned the testing period of various versions of the Viper V3 Pro. The pro players get their hands on them and provide feedback, right? Well, it doesn't stop there, as there is always more testing that needs to be done.

At Razer, they value that feedback, externally and internally. The prototype stage is where everything starts to come together. Pebble mentioned how they send the mouse to other members of the Razer family.

Some who work on headsets or design the gaming chairs. They are not directly associated with the mouse's creation, don't have the same attachment to it, and aren't necessarily looking to shape it to their needs like a pro player would.

Instead, they are just Razer employees who play an assortment of games. They get to test the mouse and answer questions, so it is like the average gamer supporting Razer's efforts in making the Viper V3 Pro the best mouse it can be.

At this point, they start to send them to their esports players. You might see unnamed mice on stage during huge competitions. These are the prototypes, and how they perform in competition is the true testament to if they are ready for public release.

The mouse that zekken won VCT Americas Kickoff 2024 and VALORANT Masters Madrid with was in fact a prototype. And those victories helped Razer finish the product with his feedback, now knowing that the Viper V3 Pro has what it takes to win.

The excitement within the Razer team cannot be overstated. From the moment he was seen warming up on stage prior to a match starting, the team was filled joy and even started calling it the "zekken mouse" internally.

And it is kind of full circle for the VALORANT pro. He's been a Razer user for quite a while, and Pebble let us know that zekken's mom bought him his first Razer product. That's why they tapped into him and his brand to essentially be the face of the Viper V3 Pro.

With more and more esports titles emerging and more young gamers growing into professionals, Razer has been a part of their journey. From using a headset or mouse while perfecting their craft to winning championships on the grandest stage of their esport.

It resembles a similar process of marketing for traditional sports brands. They latch onto a superstar and fans or aspiring pros see that superstar winning with their product and providing testimony. For esports, you have your zekkens who dominate with a mouse like the Viper V3 Pro and everyone wants one.

A mouse is not a large product in terms of its physical nature. Especially when lightweight ones are the desire of pros for this type of mouse. But that does not mean the undertaking of bringing the product to life isn't a massive endeavor.

There are many teams involved in the process of getting the Viper V3 Pro on your radar. Not only does it need to be designed, but it needs to come to life, needs to be delivered to testers, needs to be marketed, and needs to be sold and shipped.

Here is just a sample of the type of teams within an organization like Razer that have a hand in creating a product:

There is so much that goes into making a mouse, that it isn't simple at all. They look at the coating of the mouse under different types of lighting. They check how many clicks it handles throughout its lifetime before it doesn't work anymore.

The amount of people that worked on the Viper V3 Pro is truly countless. From ideas to approval and from physical creation to testing feedback, it really is something the entire company can have a say in.

As we wrapped up our conversation with Pebble, she wanted to touch on getting first-hand experience with pro players. She would typically be at home or the Razer office, receiving feedback through emails or survey forms.

There's only so much she can do by just reading the words on her screen. So, when she was finally able to travel with that bag full of mice, she could engage in real conversations with the pro players using the prototypes.

Being so close to the product and having such an important role in its creation means understanding what the players want when it comes to using it. Nothing beats hearing it from them directly, and that was perhaps the most valuable moment during the Viper V3 Pro's formation.

Even when a product is leaked, which Pebble says if often intentional to garner commotion and conversation about it, the response from pros and the general public is important. And sometimes, when the leak isn't intentional, that helps, too.

At times, they will let players not signed to Razer also test their products. There is a bit of trust there, and of course, no names can be mentioned, especially if they are signed to a competitor. It makes for a funny story, though, if an unsigned pro lets it slip that they're using it.

We want to thank Pebble and Razer for opening up to us about the creation of the Viper V3 Pro. And we also want to thank zekken for making it a championship caliber mouse and answering a few questions for us.

There's no greater testimony than that of a VALORANT regional winner and Masters winner who used the Viper V3 Pro on his way to hoisting the trophy:

So, there you have it straight from the Sentinels player himself. From the feedback he provided, to everyone else involved, and Pebble for getting it into our hands, the Razer Viper V3 Pro is a product they undoubtedly should be proud of.