Razer Phone closing its Theme Store on Android later this month, nearly five years later

Ben Schoon | Aug 11 2022 - 8:35 am PT

Do you remember when Razer, the PC gaming brand, made its own smartphone? The Razer Phone and Razer Phone 2 are mostly forgotten memories at this point, and now the brand is closing the door on its Theme Store for those devices.

The Razer Phone and its sequel both shipped with a special Theme Store, which allowed the phone to redesign its UI based on packs available in the store. One click could apply a full new theme to the device, including app icons, the wallpaper, and elements of the Android interface.

Now, Razer is shutting down the Theme Store.

On August 24, 2022, Razer will close the Theme Store for any remaining Razer Phone or Razer Phone 2 owners, the company notes on a support page. The Store will be shut down entirely, meaning that themes will no longer be accessible in any capacity. Razer also mentions that the existing theme applied on your device will be the only one retained after the store’s closure.

Unfortunately, the Theme Store themes cannot be downloaded and saved in your phone. Hence, only the current theme applied will be retained. Browse through the Theme Store before August 24, 2022 to download and apply the theme you would like to retain.

Razer doesn’t mention whether or not the default theme can be restored after the store is shut down, but does point users to a library of wallpapers that will remain available.

Effectively, closing the Theme Store will disable theming on the Razer Phone and Razer Phone 2 entirely.

This closure doesn’t come as much of a surprise. The Razer Phone and Razer Phone 2 weren’t massive hits on the market, and it’s been quite some time since either was available for purchase.

The original Razer Phone was released nearly five years ago on November 15, 2017, less than a year after Razer had acquired the startup brand Nextbit. The Nextbit Robin turned out to be a foundation for the Razer Phone, and some of its aspects lived on into the Razer Phone 2 in 2018. Razer also showed off an ambitious concept at CES in 2018 that used the Razer Phone to power a laptop, even using a motorized USB-C port for connection, but the product never saw the light of day.