So I've used a Freestyle2 as a test measure for this, and I own a Kinesis Essential and an Ergodox and have tried to use both of them for gaming as well.
Honestly? I hate thumb clusters for gaming. They are ass. Does it come up all the time that you'd need to hit ctrl, shift, and space at the same time? No, but it can(Especially if ctrl is your TS/Discord/Vent PTT key like a lot of people I know). I also hate the Ergodox's column stagger(In general, actually, but in particular for gaming). The Essential/Advantage layout with the curved handwell is better for the majority of hand positioning but still has thumb cluster irritation.
Honestly I just tilt my normal keyboard when I'm gaming and that works better than anything else for me except maybe switching to a Razer Orbweaver, but I don't have room on my desk for that and a keyboard and a mouse. But hey there's an issue with tilting a normal keyboard which is that y'know the right half gets hard to type on when you need it. Sure be nice if you could split the thing in half. Wait you can.
Seriously just being able to move the right half of the keyboard and tent the board a bit is a huge improvement that doesn't take a ton of relearning or irritation. The flexibilty is great without having to deal with stupid thumbclusters. Don't need this right now, want more room for my mouse, go away right half. Need both because I have to type, they're both there and tilted in different directions hey isn't this nice. Like, it just works without an adjustment period. (As someone with broad shoulders it's also a fix in and of itself, if I let my hands rest at a comfortable width on a fullsize my right hand is on the numberpad. Hell I can move it far enough right to slap my mouse in between and still be comfortable since most of what I play doesn't actually need a ton of mouse movement anyway.)
As to the left bank of keys, this is a common, extremely useful, and looked for feature for gaming(And life in general honestly if you have a board with them). Move that right half of the board key to where it's comfortable to reach. Assign that macro. Set it up to make targeting your team easier. Put that photoshop shortcut that you use all the time but it's four freaking awkward keys long on its own button and never worry about it again I'm looking at you save for web you know what you did bad shortcut no biscuit.
One also needs to keep in mind the demographic this is aimed at. No, it's not aggressively ergonomic like the Advantage. No, it's not as shiny and pretty as the VE.A kit. It's aimed at people who are looking for something more convenient and comfortable without straying too far from the known. Sure, it only takes a couple weeks max to get more or less up to speed with a new keyboard layout, but most gamers aren't going to accept that time period of being slowed down or are going to jump directly to a dedicated gaming pad. They're also generally not going to be willing to source and solder up a kit. The crossover between gamers and hardcore keyboard enthusiasts is not complete, as much as we'd all like it to be.
Same thing goes for the non-standard keys and unreplacable spacebars. I actually did advocate for going closer to standard, but again, your average user isn't going to be replacing their keys anyway and probably doesn't know they can. That's the one thing I'm sad about.
I dunno, like, I get why people are objecting in this thread to certain parts of it, but I like this thing and I'm excited about it. Besides, it could be a gateway drug for people to using more ergonomic things and even small improvements can have a big impact. What people won't use won't help them.
Also, reminder that you've only got four more days to back this. Do it for your collection if nothing else.
Now someone figure out an ergonomic MMO mouse. The 3x4 grid on the side of my Naga isn't always comfortable for reaching all the buttons with my thumb...