eSports
XSET and Drai’s Announce Groundbreaking Partnership in Las Vegas
XSET, the world’s fastest growing and most diverse esports and gaming lifestyle brand, and Drai’s, the world’s biggest hip hop club, announced they have entered into a first-of-its-kind partnership that intersects hip hop and gaming into the Las Vegas club scene.
The first club “Residency” in history for a gaming team.
The partnership will see XSET integrating gaming into both Drai’s Beachclub and Nightclub venues. The sprawling 30,000 sq. ft. beach club will feature XSET-themed gaming cabanas, complete with custom XSET gaming consoles and design. VIP guests at the nightclub will also have the ability to enjoy gaming in Drai’s lush VIP sections, while listening to the hottest new music, or with the backdrop of one of Drai’s resident performers like XSET’s own Swae Lee and Slim Jxmmi of Rae Sremmurd live on stage.
“It’s an honor to partner with an incredible brand like Drai’s,” said XSET Chief Business Development Officer Clinton Sparks. “They are the number one hip hop club in the world â and understand not only the space but also how to produce unforgettable events and experiences. The fact they have the vision and innovative spirit to bring this to the culture and community makes XSET extremely excited to call them partners.”
“We couldn’t be more excited to collaborate with XSET, which is quickly emerging as a leader in the esports and gaming space, to bring unprecedented activations to Drai’s,” said Dustin Drai, Vice President of Marketing and Entertainment for Drai’s Las Vegas. “This partnership is a colossal step in furthering the evolution of the gaming and nightlife communities, and we look forward to creating unmatched experiences with XSET.”
Wil Eddins, Chief Merchandising and Licensing Officer at XSET who first connected with Drai’s added, “This is just one in many game changing activations we have planned that will disrupt what it means to be a gaming org. From fashion to music to nightlife, XSET will always be vanguard.”
XSET CEO Greg Selkoe summed it up by saying “Drai’s is a world leading nightlife brand and XSET is a world leading gaming brand – two wildly creative groups joining forces only makes sense.”
Details of the partnership include:
XSET decorated and themed gaming cabanas, with gaming consoles, screens and state-of-the-art sound systems
XSET VIP cabanas with an immersive gaming look and feel including gaming consoles and large LED screens, as well as the opportunity to hang with XSET talent
Gaming tournaments inside the Drai’s venue often hosted by XSET talent and artists
Drai’s x XSET limited edition merchandise and accessory collaborations sold on premises and online
XSET, their friends, and select artist parties inside Drai’s
Fan fly-always and VIP entrance for XSET contest winners
Private gaming lounge for Drai’s talent to hang before and after shows
In conjunction with the launch of this partnership, XSET will also be introducing their new content house in Las Vegas where Drai’s resident artists will have exclusive access to create listening events, album release parties, and shoot content, as well as unwind and game with the XSET squad.
By combining hip-hop, gaming, and lifestyle, this pioneering partnership will cement Drai’s and XSET as leaders not only in Las Vegas, but in global nightlife and gaming trends. Together they will usher in the rapidly growing gaming and esports culture into a brand new vertical.
This first-of-its-kind experience is sure to attract excitement from gaming, music and nightlife fans around the globe – and is SET to change the game!
The Future is SET.
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eSports
Community Gaming Joins Forces with Moonton as Official Esports Partner for Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
Community Gaming (CG), the leading esports platform for automated tournament payouts and sponsor of the Mobile Legends: Bang Bangâs professional league for the Latin America Region, MPL LATAM, now supports developing esports communities in Latin America in collaboration with Moonton.
This partnership is a significant boost to CGâs existing advantages associated with its grant program, a partner-backed initiative to provide organizers with economic resources based on the performance and growth of their local gaming communities. Tournament organizers can apply to receive platform support, prizes, in-game currency, items, and tournament professional assistance including âTournament Mode,â a special setting on Mobile Legends: Bang Bang that grants organizers enhanced features, such as unlocking all available skins in the game for players to fully enjoy a complete and unique MLBB pro tournament experience.
Wei Xu, regional esports operation manager at Moonton, said: âWe are excited to announce the partnership with Community Gaming. Community Gaming is the most accepted esports platform in our community in Latin America. We hope this partnership brings new experiences to the players.â
As MPL comes to its end this year, CG will also be collaborating with MLBB professional teams for a flash $4000 prize tournament set to enhance the visibility of the companyâs services. This event marks a pivotal moment set to highlight CGâs preparedness to impact the professional MLBB scene.
Community Gaming and Moonton are no strangers to mutual cooperation. In the past both companies have partnered to develop the Dawn of Heroes Series, a set of events in 2021 and 2022 that offered qualifying slots to MLBBâs Signature Competition, Liga LATAM. The companies have also worked together on Peruâs University Tournament INTERU 2023 and currently Community Gaming hosts significant activity of MLBB Tournaments from over 12 countries on a monthly basis.
eSports
Esports player age verification should be simple
Despite the continuing professionalisation of esports, misconceptions about player age persist â particularly of underage pros playing in professional esports.
Back in 2021, the PandaScore whitepaper dug into the data around player age in professional esports and found that the average age of a pro player was just under 24 years old. By comparison, the same report noted that the average age for a menâs professional footballer was about 26 years old.
While there is no great gulf in player ages between esports and traditional sports, thereâs more apprehension around this topic once thereâs a keyboard or controller involved. There are good reasons behind this focus, but the truth is that a simple and straightforward product makes player age verification easy.
The reason behind the focus on player age
Compliance with player age requirements has been a particular concern as legalised sports and esports betting rolls out across the US. These are completely reasonable concerns, partly because of the state-by-state nature of American regulation, but also due to past compliance issues in the likes of ITF tennis.
Age compliance isnât a challenge unique to esports. It does have younger players in the same way tennis does, so it’s a space that operators consider a potential risk area based on precedent. While it’s understandable to be vigilant about ensuring age compliance across your whole book, the reality in esports is itâs just like any other sport.
However, with this greater attention, itâs crucial for esports suppliers to have a simple, high-quality solution that is flexible for any jurisdiction â and not just treat it as a spreadsheet-based, tack-on service.
Importance in the US
Itâs abundantly clear that if you want to ensure compliance in the US space, player age verification isnât a nice to have, itâs an integral part of your product. Across each jurisdiction player age verification can vary â something weâve seen in Europe as well such as Swedenâs rule that a match must have 60% of players over the age of 18 for an operator to offer match bets.
In sports, itâs fairly straightforward to implement but has been an oversight from sports data providers in the past. Itâs quite easy to provide, it just requires collecting data from multiple, reputable sources outside of the match itself.
PandaScore has been collecting player age verification data since it was founded in 2017 to ensure compliance no matter the regulation, no matter the jurisdiction.
Embedding player age verification in your product
Ensuring age compliance was a founding principle for our product suite â we included it as a key datapoint in our API, which is the bedrock of our broader offering. Suppliers should have this embedded in their products, rather than an additional service.
PandaScore believes that offering player age verification as part of an API and integrated into your service means you can be more confident in your compliance not just for individual esports titles, but from match to match.
For us itâs simple: one of PandaScoreâs founding principles is to not rely on only one single data source, but leverage multiple quality data sources that we can trust. We have a longstanding and highly developed process that guarantees a level of accuracy for player age verification thatâs in line with regulation and gives operators the confidence that theyâre compliant. Our practice of using multiple data sources means that double and triple-checking information to ensure player age compliance is in our nature.
With player age verification built into an API, operators can leverage the data to match the compliance needs of any given jurisdiction. This can be done by integrating player age data via the API, it can be included in their feed via our odds product with the flexibility to add exclusions where necessary, or if an operators wants it in a simper form, it can be done via request.
Player age verification might seem like a simple item, but is a compliance matter thatâs essential to operating in a proper fashion. Noting the concerns and greater focus on player ages in esports, itâs something thatâs important to get right: player age verification should be entrenched in esports products themselves to give operators the flexibility and simplicity that they need.
Author: Oliver Niner, Head of Sales at PandaScore.
eSports
CS2 Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 SuperComputer: NaVi to bounce back after Blast Fall Final loss
Final: Natus Vincere (36.5%) to beat Team Vitality (28.1%)
Semifinal 1: Natus Vincere (52.6%) to beat MOUZ (16.3%)
Semifinal 2: Team Vitality (47.7%) to beat G2 Esports (18.7%)
Quarterfinal 1: G2 Esports (39.8%) to beat FaZe Clan (32.8%)
Quarterfinal 2: MOUZ (35.9%) to beat Eternal Fire (24.7%)
Group stage:Â
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Natus Vincere –Â 48.7% to finish 1st; 17.0% to finish 2nd; 84.1% to make playoffs
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Team Vitality –Â 40.8% to finish 1st; 17.4% to finish 2nd; 77.7% to make playoffs
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G2 Esports –Â 19.3% to finish 1st; 20.4% to finish 2nd; 56.7% to make playoffs
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MOUZ –Â 14.5% to finish 1st; 21.8% to finish 2nd; 53.0% to make playoffs
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FaZe Clan –Â 13.9% to finish 1st; 21.0% to finish 2nd; 50.2% to make playoffs
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Eternal Flame – 40.7% to finish 1st; 16.2% to finish 2nd; 40.7% to make playoffs
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Liquid –Â 16.3% to finish 7-8th; 35.7% to make playoffs
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Virtus.pro – 15.4% to finish 7-8th; 29.9% to make playoffs
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Astralis –Â 28.9% to finish 9-12th; 31.5% to make playoffs
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The MongolZ –Â 32.7% to finish 9-12th; 25.4% to make playoffs
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Complexity –Â 34.3% to finish 9-12th; 21.2% to make playoffs
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Heroic –Â 26.8% to finish 9-12th; 23.5% to make playoffs
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paiN –Â 36.5% to finish 13-16th; 21.0% to make playoffs
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FURIA –Â 36.4% to finish 13-16th; 20.9% to make playoffs
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9z –Â 44.7% to finish 13-16th; 14.6% to make playoffs
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Imperial – 49.1% to finish 13-16th; 13.9% to make playoffs
It has been quite the run for NaVi despite their loss with back to back grand finals in recent weeks but CSDB.ggâs predictive model suggests there will be no let up for the Ukrainian esports organisation.
G2 will also be looking to build more momentum in preparation for Majors season with NiKo on a quest to finally get over the line this year to win his first major title. Hopefully Rio wonât have to see a repeat of his reaction in the semifinals at BLAST Premier Fall Final 2024 where he punched a hole in a table after losing out to Team Vitality in a key moment.
However, the hosts of Intel Extreme Masters Rio 2024 may want to lockdown any nearby furniture and reinforce their desks if G2 are set for disappointment at the semifinals stage as predicted by the CSDB.gg SuperComputer.
A victory in Rio could be even more consequential for how the end of the year shapes up for the leading teams on the circuit. The Valve Global rankings have both teams close at the very top (NaVi at 1988 and G2 at 1953) meaning a win for either team could hand them a key advantage when it comes to who enters the Majors as top seed.Â
Back-to-back wins in T1 events for G2, should they prosper in Rio, would set the Berlin-based team on an incredible trajectory going into the winter months.
Meanwhile, Brazilian hopes for glory look slight according to the CSDB.gg SuperComputer with FURIA, the team co-owned by Neymar, having only been given a 20.9% chance of even making the playoffs.Â
They are the leading contenders to make an impact for the home crowd but there are other teams flying the flag for Brazil with paiN and Imperial also set to give it their best to give local fans something to cheer on.
In terms of forecasted matchups of note, G2 and FaZe Clan could offer up a fascinating encounter in the quarterfinals should both teams qualify, with each organisation rated as having a strong chance of making the semis with little to separate them should they meet.
How was the CSDB.gg CS2 Tournament SuperComputer created?
The CSDB.gg CS2 Tournament SuperComputer is a predictive model created using world ranking points, team quality ratings and performance trends. An element of randomness is also included in the model to avoid the best teams and players always winning, to reflect the fact that upsets can happen.
Every tournament is simulated 1,000 times with the results aggregated into a percentage rating of the chances teams or players have to achieve the predicted result.
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