- XSET entered Halo Infinite esports by signing the Crowd Pleasers roster
- The roster features players with decades-long experience
- Halo Infinite’s esports future looks promising as more and more organizations sign rosters
XSET has signed the Crowd Pleasers roster. With this, the organization enters the still young Halo Infinite esports sphere.
New Halo Game, New Roster
Halo Infinite has had a strong esports debut and organizations are scrambling to get in on the hot new game. Despite the many problems Infinite still has, XSET has recently has entered Halo by signing the Crowd Pleasers roster. It features Carlos “Cratos” Ayala, Oliver “FilthyG” Gerlach, Ayden “Suspector” Hill, and Steven “PorkyJ” James.
The team joined the Crowd Pleasers this November and scored top 12 at back-to-back HCS North American Open tournaments.
The team of four played a brief FACEIT tournament for Halo 3 where they placed third overall before Halo Infinite was released. Now the team will be playing under XSET with their first challenge being the HCS Kickoff Qualifier for NA. Hopes are high, as all of the players are esports veterans, some with more than a decade of experience in different Halo games. Two of these players – Cratos and Suspector – have been playing together since 2015.
Cratos said about himself and Suspector that some of their previous teammates have said to them before “that we only play for each other because our teamwork is so good.” This seems to be confirmed by Spectator as he says “No matter what we say, we know we both know each other,” adding that he and Cratos want to be the best team and can get better.
The Crowd Pleasers’ Bumpy Ride to Get Here
Things were not always looking this good for the Crowd Pleasers. Suspector and Cratos were testing out the waters in Call of Duty, and PorkyJ and FilthyG were playing Halo 3. PorkyJ said that Halo 3 had a little online revival at the time. “So, it was just me and FilthyG. We were kind of playing on and off back and forth with that.”
Things didn’t get better when Halo Infinite was delayed, and with it came delays to the competitive scene. Every one of the four players agrees that the Halo competitive scene at the time was lackluster. Now with more and more players getting into Halo, it seems the pros are glad to be a part of a new organization. XSET’s coach Brizzy expressed his excitement on Twitter:
Despite Halo Infinite’s multitude of problems, more and more organizations like Na’Vi, Cloud9, G2, Spacestation Gaming, Sentinels, Fnatic, and others signing Infinite rosters. Players and streamers alike agree the game is fun, but suggest changes to fix its many issues. However, if 343 Industries listens to this feedback, then Halo Infinite’s esports future will be good.
