Las Vegas Inferno establishing community roots

Jairo Urcuyo, founder of local esports organization Las Vegas Inferno, had big plans for 2020.

“We had LAN tournaments planned, creating content in person, you name it, we were ready to go,” Urcuyo said.

Like for so many others, the pandemic threw those plans out the window. But out of the challenges of creating new ideas on the fly came a new direction.

“How can we connect with our discord community and the Vegas community and build something together?” Urcuyo said.

This year has seen a shift to online content, with the Inferno bringing in several content creators and influencers, as well as competing in online tournaments. But it also saw a new initiative.

Urcuyo has spent years looking to build Las Vegas Inferno into the prominent esports organization in Las Vegas. The pandemic helped him realize to do that, it required reaching out beyond his core crowd.

“The esports community is great, but who is actually out there helping local charities and outreach programs? Esports should be bigger than just esports. It should be around the whole city,” Urcuyo said.

Las Vegas Inferno partnered with the American Cancer Society for a special Fall Guys fundraiser stream. In 2021, Urcuyo hopes to partner with more local charities, including Opportunity Village and the Boys and Girls Club to show the community his organization is about more than just esports, it’s ready to be a force for good in the city.

“How are you affecting your local communities? That’s why we want to do this, to affect our community in a positive way,” Urcuyo said.

2020 threw everything out of whack for nearly everyone, but Urcuyo is confident Las Vegas Inferno is ready to make the most of 2021.

“When you come to Vegas and think esports, we want to be that team,” Urcuyo said. “We want people to come and watch the official esport team in Vegas. Just like in hockey, you come to watch the Golden Knights. We want to be in that category.”

Contact Lukas Eggen at leggen@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Follow @lukaseggen on Twitter.