This post was sponsored by the HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas. All opinions and writing is my own.
Highlights: HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas
I was given a personal tour of the HyperX Esports Arena in Luxor Las Vegas from Aaron, a manager. His walkthrough was very thorough and interesting, and I could just hear his excitement as he shared about the future of Esports, appealing to both the masses via tournaments, special events, and of course your regular gaming, but also to corporate customers, interested in award shows, presentations, and conferences. I got a behind-the-scenes look at how an esports production is created, and tested out their state of the art gaming rigs for myself. You can find out more information at the Luxor attraction site here, or the Arena’s site here.
Review of $3,000+ Prize Weekly Fortnite Tournament – Friday Frag – can be find here!
LOBBY & CHECK-IN
The 30,000 sq ft Arena is located on the South or left side of the Luxor casino. The unassuming entrance opens up to views of their merchandise section to the left, and a small-ish gaming area and screen to the right. Behind their check-in desk is a sign of pricing – $15 for an hour, to $50 for 8 hours or $125 for “weekend warrior” or a 24 hour period. They also have a small Red Bull fridge and a menu binder of games. Additionally, they also list their tournaments that they host, such as fighting games (Tekken, Smash, Mortal Kombat) on Wednesday, or their most popular one – Friday Frag, for Fortnite.
Check Out the Stage!
Walking in, past a second merchandise station with workout gear, is an old-school free-to-play area with consoles. Apparently, this is to pay homage to those who came before. After passing through this area, it opens up into a massive space, with dozens of PCs, a huge stage, red and blue competitor stations, and a massive screen. There is also a small arcade in the back with traditional games as well. Plenty of seating area around small screens for food and console gaming.
Private Events & Business Development
What I learned during the tour was that the Arena has a huge B2B presence, outside the traditional B2C gaming, hosting conventions and dance parties, as well as birthday parties, boot camps, and more. He listed off several top Fortune 500 and tech companies who have rented out the Arena for corporate events, award ceremonies, and the like. According to the manager, the Arena has experienced tremendous growth, through its corporate development as well as community partnership – they have a section for UNLV and their esports organizations to train. The university’s teams, across multiple games, consists of dozens of players – who need a place to scrim and practice. I checked out the private VIP booths and rooms – which also come equipped with fast guest wifi for your use.
Behind the Scenes
For esports events, as well as corporate engagements, the Arena has its own hosts, interviewers and even casters – who provide commentary and dialogue to the games. I thought this was quite interesting, as I expected just a place to host tournaments, but it makes sense that they have their own in-house production talent facilitating. I got a walkthrough of the VIP rooms, viewing booths, operations and observer stations, as well as the crazy cool HYPE TUNNEL where announced players run through – probably the closest I’ll ever get to being a professional gamer. He also showed me the private studio and caster station. The number of screens and personnel behind the scenes to pull off a successful stream is mind-boggling.
Food & Drink
They have a fully stocked bar on the second floor, and serve a wide range of cocktails, snacks, and food, courtesy of the Public House restaurant next door. Pricing was reasonable, but I didn’t get a chance to sample the goods yet – perhaps next time!
Note: you can have food and drink at your pcs! I asked about this due to cleanliness issues, and the manager did say that it’s the cost of doing business and they try to repair much of the damaged peripherals on their own.
I also got the description of the cocktails below as well – which, ,along with the photos of food and drink above, come directly from the Arena.
- OVERKILL – Referring to when a gamer achieves multiple kills in a short timeframe, this overkill concoction is made with Mango, Giffard Passion Fruit Liqueur, Lime, Bacardi Pineapple and Red Bull Yellow Edition.
- CHUG JUG – To regain shields in the popular game Fortnite, a player must consume the “chug jug” to receive full health and shields. The HyperX Esports Arena created its own form of the legendary blue and green drink with a mixture of Svedka Raspberry Vodka, Red Bull Blue Edition, Bols Blue Curacao, and raspberries.
- FINAL BOSS – This colorful beverage is a reference to the “Final Boss” or the last major challenge you face in a game’s storyline. The mixed drink reaches new levels with an ingredient list of Ketel One Botanical Cucumber Mint Vodka, Red Bull, and fresh kiwi.
Gaming
They have a wide range of PC games on a menu, as well as consoles for your entertainment. In order to get started, they have you create a gamer tag/username, and you’ll login with that information. Note that you’ll receive a 10 minute warning as a popup during your game, but you’ll automatically get kicked up at the end of your time, so be sure to end your game before then! Hopefully they’ll implement a top-up feature to add time (perhaps by the minute or 10 minute rate) to accommodate for gaming through the end of time.
Miscellaneous
The HyperX Esports Arena Las Vegas is part of Allied Esports, which has locations across China, Europe, and the United States, as well as an Australia affiliate. This location at the Luxor is the flagship Arena, and they also have locations in Oakland and Santa Ana.
They use HyperX as their primary peripheral sponsor, and Newegg for their hardware (monitors, pcs, etc.) The HyperX Pulsefire Surge ($60) was a cool little mouse, certainly better than the free one that I requisitioned from a previous employer.
Pricing wise, I expected it to be more than what I’ve seen at other places ($7-10/hr) and it was still quite reasonable. Additionally, I was informed that prices go down at the end of summer, and that locals also receive a discount.
I was pleased to see that it was a completely smoke-free environment – according to a sign in the restroom. While smoking is allowed in the casino, and marijuana is legal in Nevada, neither were allowed in the Arena – including vaping, e-cigarettes, etc. I’m definitely going to come back to experience it with friends or test our their food & drink!
Review of $3,000+ Prize Weekly Fortnite Tournament – Friday Frag – can be find here!
This review was sponsored by the HyperX Esports Arena – no other compensation was received. Special thanks to Aaron for hosting me and answering many of my questions, as well as to my marketing partners Hannah & Brianna for making this visit possible!
Featured Image of the signature OVERKILL cocktail from the bar menu. Disclaimer: This post may contain affiliate links which, should you click through and/or make a purchase, grant me a commission. Also, I only post in the best interest of my readers. Lastly, thank you for supporting my blog and my travels.
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Interesting enough, but I don’t like casinos. I like computer games, and I myself have been playing Dota 2 for a long time and following several teams.