Gaming and sneaker culture have some of the most passionate fans around, and it’s pretty clear a lot of them crossover. We’ve seen promotional sneaker releases for videogames like Need for Speed: Heat (opens in new tab). We’ve seen shoes that are actually RTX 3080-powered PCs (opens in new tab). We’ve even had sneaker collections sneak into videogames like Fortnite (opens in new tab). And now Razer is collaborating with sustainable shoe manufacturer Cariuma (opens in new tab) to release its own Sneki Snek sneakers.
If you haven’t heard of Sneki Snek (opens in new tab), congratulations. But he’s a cute little snake mascot that represents Razer’s commitment to sustainability. Razer have a bunch of merch dedicated to the little black and green reptile, like this gaming chair pillow (opens in new tab) and these cute plushies (opens in new tab). Sales of the range go towards planting trees. There’s even a series of mini cartoons (opens in new tab) and in the one I quickly watched, Sneki saved his friend and then suddenly had a 120FPS boost. So you know it’s that good gamer stuff.
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Sneki Snek features on the side of the new canvas shoes that come in both high top and low cut styles (opens in new tab). They are priced at, $89 USD and $98 USD, £99 GPB and £89 GBP, and $139 AUD and $129 AUD respectively and most seem to offer free shipping. You can also choose between the all black design, complete with black stitching, laces, and soul with green highlights, or go with the more classic black and white shoe style. Both styles are available for preorder or add to cart depending on stock, in men's and women’s sizes. At time of writing, it's worth noting that some were already sold out.
The shoes are made from organic cotton canvas, with a natural rubber soul, and recycled plastics for the rest. On the Cariuma website (opens in new tab), it states the shoes are all made from responsibly sourced materials and made in ethical factories. They’re also supposed to be broken-in-comfortable straight out of the box, which is always nice and they offer free 60 day returns so long as the shoes meet the criteria.
There’s no boasting that these sneakers will make you any better at gaming, but they seem to be alright for walking, and have a cute snake on the side. Potentially helping the planet is always a bonus as well, and it's a bit more stylish than the toilet roll Razer released last year (opens in new tab).
