XSE (歆赛电竞, Xin Sai Esports) is a Chinese esports tournament organizer and operator best known for creating the XPL (XSE Pro League) tournament series. In 2026, XSE launched XPL Guangzhou, the first T1-level international Counter-Strike 2 tournament organized by a domestic Chinese third-party operator.
XPL Guangzhou 2026
XPL Guangzhou 2026 was a Valve-certified T1 international CS2 tournament held from July 1 to 12, drawing 16 international teams to Guangzhou. With a $1 million prize pool, the event marked XSE’s ambitious entry into top-tier global esports event organization. The tournament received backing from Guangzhou’s municipal gaming and esports development policies, leveraging the city’s Greater Bay Area audience and international infrastructure.
According to XSE management, the choice of Guangzhou was strategic — the Greater Bay Area offers a strong esports fan base, established player talent pipelines through organizations like TYLOO and Lynn Vision Gaming, and supportive government policy. XSE has expressed ambitions to make Guangzhou a recurring XPL host city and potentially bid for Major-level events in the future.
Operational Challenges
The inaugural XPL Guangzhou tournament faced significant operational issues, including delayed starts, computer viruses, player account theft, equipment failures, and a venue power outage. These problems drew widespread criticism from the international CS2 community. XSE’s previous social media mockery of India’s “Skyesports Championship” — similarly plagued by issues — became an ironic point of comparison.
XPL Luoyang 2026 Cancellation
On September 26, 2026, XSE announced that it had cancelled the XPL Luoyang event, which had been scheduled for October 29 to November 1. The organizer attributed the decision to a venue scheduling conflict after a Henan ethnic-minority sports event was rescheduled at short notice. XSE said its inspections found no alternate Luoyang venue that met the event’s requirements. It stated that registered teams would retain their VRS points and receive full registration-fee refunds; a follow-up said refunds would be processed within 15 working days. The public posts establish the announced policy, not that refunds have been completed.
