Ever bought a "gaming router"? Or maybe food aimed at gamers, like Mountain Dew's Game Fuel? How about a gaming-specific chair?
Those are just a few of the many, many totally normal things that have been branded and sold as "gamer" versions of their standard form.
Without fail, the "gamer" version of whatever product is almost guaranteed to be an equal or lesser version of the non-"gamer" version of that same thing.
As it turns out, expensive "gaming" chairs are easily swapped with less expensive, perfectly nice normal chairs that cost less and look more like actual chairs. And those gaming routers? They're oftentimes identical to standard routers, with some specific settings tweaked.
The same could be said here for K-Swiss' attempt at "gamer" shoes. Design criticism aside, these are clearly a more expensive version of already existing K-Swiss shoes — a move that feels exactly as cynical as it sounds.
If you're looking to become a better esports competitor, practice whatever game you're playing more. And if you're looking for a pair of good shoes, look elsewhere.
At very least, you'll have until spring 2020 to think about it. "This launch is a very limited Beta Program," Waters said, "Specifically designed to gather feedback from eSports pro players and influencers. This feedback will allow us to perfect the model for a wider release in Spring of 2020."