i3 - January/February 2019 - 37

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The Best in a Year of Innovation
Frank Azor, vice president and general manager of Alienware,
Gaming and XPS at Dell, continues to lead the company's
efforts to make PCs and other hardware for gamers. Last
year at CES, Dell launched its new wallet-friendly gaming
systems, the Dell G Series, and showcased the Alienware
Command Center, an exclusive software for its peripherals.
In addition to hosting a tournament at CES for the VR-based
game Sprint Vector, Frank took the stage with Steve Arhancet,
co-CEO of Team Liquid, to announce the expansion of the
Alienware and Team Liquid partnership, as well as the first
Alienware Training Facility.
In March, they opened the doors to this new state-ofthe-art training facility in Los Angeles. Inside, Team Liquid
players have a dedicated space to practice, compete and even
eat properly with an in-house chef preparing meals every day.
The 8,000 square foot training facility houses more than 50
Alienware desktops and displays, dedicated scrimmage rooms
and review theaters for the core rosters that train offsite.
The facility also hosts an on-site studio and production
crew called 1UP Studios who follow Team Liquid and create
original videos to promote the team and its global players.
By working closely with Team Liquid, Azor says Alienware
can learn from their premier players and design peripherals,
displays and PCs that meet the needs of the ever-growing
number of competitive players. "I get to do what I love, with
a great team, every single day. I can tell you there has never
been a more exciting time to be a gamer than now," Azor says,
citing the more than 2.2 billion active players today and a
global esports audience that will grow from 383 million to
more than 500 million in 2019, according to NewZoo.
The investment has paid off as Team Liquid's League of
Legends team entered their NA League Championship Series
(LCS) 2018 Spring Playoffs in March as the fourth seed
and went on to dominate their bracket, going 9-1 through
the playoffs and winning the organization's first NA LCS
Championship. They led the league with a 12-6 record in the

C TA . t e c h / i 3

following 2018 Summer Split - earning the #1 seed in the
playoffs. Then Team Liquid went 6-1 during the Summer
Playoffs, marking the organization's first time as back-to-back
2018 NA LCS Champions.
"Esports is a highly competitive sport based on talent,
skill and practice," Azor says. "I absolutely think it will be the
most popular sport in less than 10 years and become part of
the Olympics."
The momentum and integration between Alienware and
its esports partners is strong. Team Liquid has quadrupled
in size and now fields a top three roster across major esports
titles like League of Legends, CS:GO, DOTA 2, Rainbow Six
Siege, Fortnite and more.
But Alienware is just beginning. The company values
its partners and looks forward to elevating their work and
hardware as esports become more mainstream. Alienware is
also developing important esports relationships with the NBA
and 2K Games as the second season of the NBA 2K League
kicks off.
"Our success has been due to a lot of hard work and our
relentless focus on our customers," Azor says. "Our motto is
'build it as if it were your own.' We are gamers that wanted to
build PCs for ourselves and our friends, and that is why we
started the business. We are very passionate and absolutely
love what we do."

Check out all of Dell's new gaming portfolio additions and enjoy
immersive demos firsthand in Las Vegas at CES 2019. Frank Azor
and other special guests will make some of the company's biggest
announcements to date at their CES 2019 launch event. Join them
live at the Sands Showroom on January 8th at 10 a.m. PST or tune
into the livestream online at Dell.com/Gaming.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2019

http://www.Dell.com/Gaming https://www.cta.tech/

i3 - January/February 2019

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