In a way, esports have existed for the reason that first time nerds gathered collectively to play video video games competitively (or 1972 per Guinness World Records). Aggressive video gaming has at all times existed, and particularly good gamers might earn a number of shekels right here and there however the scene didn’t actually grow to be really skilled and a viable profession till the final decade.
At present, skilled organizations exist to advertise and prepare high-caliber gamers who’re profitable a whole bunch of hundreds as much as thousands and thousands of {dollars} for competing in international tournaments. The favored sport League of Legends cut up $5,000,000 between 17 groups on the 2025 World Championships, with the profitable workforce, T1, taking residence $1,000,000 between 5 gamers.
With that in thoughts, Alienware invited Tom’s Information to take a look at the Staff Liquid coaching facility in Santa Monica, California, the place CEO Steve Arhancet and workforce GM Scott Harrison confirmed us what it takes to assist a number of esports groups and athletes throughout a spread of video games.
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Whereas we have been there, Staff Liquid’s World of Warcraft Guild was making ready to for the most recent Race to World First to finish the most recent enlargement and beat the ultimate raid boss for the long-running MMO.
WHAT IS THE FACILITY?
The Alienware Coaching Facility particularly helps the esports group Staff Liquid. The group helps three coaching services between Sao Paolo, Brazil, Utrecht, Netherlands and Santa Monica.
Every facility helps a number of groups, although the California one is especially for the League of Legends groups for the reason that Riot Video games headquarters is situated a 20-minute stroll or 4-minute drive away. Relying on what groups want, it may possibly act as a bootcamp earlier than a event. CEO Stephen Arhancet famous that one among their CS:GO groups practiced on the facility the week prior earlier than heading to a event in Austin.
“You need to have the gamers in the identical area, near a server, to have balanced play. That is why we fly all of the gamers in as well camp right here.”
For the Race, the workforce flew in gamers from across the globe. Harrison, for instance is from the UK, and he stated a majority of the workforce relies out of america and Canada however they nonetheless want to return to Los Angeles for the massive occasion.
In contrast to the Utrecht and Sao Paolo services, the Santa Monica facility is extra like a real coaching facility. The Brazilian and Dutch variations are extra fan-oriented, with outlets and fan zones.
Excessive-end gear
As you’ll be able to think about, the precise gaming tools itself is fairly top-of-the-line, and all of it comes from Alienware. From the PC towers that the gamers use to truly sport to the streaming tools, the partnership is extra than simply the emblem on the wall.
Gamers use personalized Alienware setups, however the platform begins with the Aurora and Space-51 platforms, which characteristic the most recent AMD Ryzen 7 CPUs and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics playing cards.
That powers the sport, however additionally they use displays just like the Alienware AW2725DF with its 360Hz refresh price to make sure clean gameplay. As I mentioned with Scott Harrison, most esports video games run at 1080p decision, however 1440p is the desire for World of Warcraft since there’s a lot occurring within the sport, particularly in raids the place as much as 24 gamers and enemies are on the display on the identical time. Harrison stated he likes what Alienware has, particularly the OLED choices just like the Alienware 27 AW2726DM.
The PCs are shared however every workforce has somebody who will are available and set them up for every particular sport with the suitable photos and applications. “It’s numerous wiping the League participant’s PCs when [Siori] arrives,” Harrison stated of the guild member who handles that for his workforce.
“Some gamers will even are available with a measuring tape to measure the space from their chair to the desk and monitor to get into their consolation spot,” Arhancet added.
Monitoring efficiency
Whereas there nonetheless appears to be a pure urge to bah humbug the thought of efficiency and esports, Staff Liquid put severe thought into serving to gamers carry out their finest.
The power has an onsite kitchen with a non-public chef who cooks a number of meals for the gamers. Once we arrived, breakfast burritos have been on the menu with turkey sausage, bacon, and crispy potatoes as choices. Lunch was an Indian buffet. She additionally has to contemplate dietary restrictions, mentioning that one of many League gamers is a vegan, whereas some others have allergic reactions that have to be taken into consideration.
Throughout an occasion like World First, the chef is there virtually so long as the gamers. I used to be advised she would arrive earlier than 7 AM and won’t go away till after 7 PM, and that it might be a each day job. “The Race to World First is a marathon, not a dash,” Arhancet emphasised.
Curiously, one of many main components is sleep. Harrison stated that the guild used to play for as much as 15 hours a day, however within the final couple of years dropped right down to 14 hours a day to make sure that gamers get sufficient sleep. “In Nerub-ar Palace (September 2024), we caught to that schedule and gained the race by two days, which was unprecedented,” he stated.
Staff Liquid truly has the gamers wear Whoop bands to trace sleep patterns and different data to supply gamers with knowledge on their efficiency. “We did a take a look at with our Counter-Strike workforce measuring breathwork and located gamers who maintain their breath when peeking corners have greater accuracy,” Arhancet offered for example.
There’s additionally a Professional Lab, the place efficiency coaches evaluation gameplay and may watch groups as they follow with real-time knowledge. For the Race, it was taken up by members of the guild, however for different groups, the multi-monitor setups allow monitoring and efficiency metrics that the gamers won’t see throughout video games.
There are nonetheless some gamer touches like Staff Liquid’s partnership with Monster vitality drinks. I used to be advised that gamers largely use them for boosts throughout lengthy days, however Harrison stated that gamers have been inspired to eat correctly at meal instances earlier than they’d their first can.
Consolation and facilities
With gamers sitting at their computer systems, there must be some facilities once they want a break. There’s a darkish leisure room with couches and TVs the place gamers can take a nap or do one thing else. Throughout the race, gamers aren’t allowed to speak about WoW within the leisure room. It’s meant to present them some house away from the sport for slightly bit.
“Being in Santa Monica, we additionally encourage gamers to go outdoors, get some daylight, and do hand and physique stretches,” Harrison stated. He added that the guild has a joke about strolling to the Santa Monica Pier (truly 3 miles away and a few 50-minute stroll relying in your tempo).
A few of the areas within the constructing are darkish, however Harrison truly encourages gamers to maintain lights on for eye well being. They talked about having a partnership with Philips Hue to put in lights that mimic pure daylight.
There are additionally on-site showers, although Staff Liquid additionally has offers in place with the residence advanced proper behind the ability that enable the gamers to have an area that’s theirs to relaxation, eat, and clear up as they want. Harrison stated that some gamers room alone whereas others have roommates, relying on their preferences.
Takeaways
Should you ever learn any protection of conventional sports activities, the Staff Liquid facility feels akin to coaching camp for the NFL or the assist groups that guarantee riders on the Tour de France get the right quantity of sleep and tools throughout that two-week-long race.
There are variations: extra PCs and graphics, but it surely’s knowledgeable group with all that entails, from efficiency monitoring to high quality meals and participant assist.
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