In late 2025, two very different Brazilian entertainment brands announced an unusual partnership. paiN Gaming, one of the country’s most traditional and beloved esports organisations, joined forces with NWB, the media company behind YouTube football giant Desimpedidos (10 million subscribers), to field a team in the Brazilian edition of the Kings League. The venture was named DesimpaiN—a moniker that symbolises the collision of two passionate fan universes: esports and traditional football.
The Kings League, a celebrity‑driven, gamified seven‑a‑side competition, had already proven its ability to draw massive digital audiences. By combining paiN’s fiercely loyal fanbase with Desimpedidos’ football‑loving viewership, DesimpaiN aimed to create something neither could achieve alone: a crossover that fed esports fans into football and football fans into esports.
As NWB CEO André Barros noted in an interview with The Esports Radar, the biggest crowds in the Kings League were already being driven by esports organisations—LOUD, Fluxo, FURIA, and G3X (led by Brazilian esports icon Alexandre “Gaules” Borba). “We realised that building a fanbase was fundamental to gaining relevance within the league,” he says. “An engaged crowd could bring us great strength in the scene.”
For NWB, partnering with paiN was a direct response to that observation: if esports fans were powering the Kings League’s most passionate followings, then bringing a traditional football media brand together with a storied esports organisation made perfect sense.
Then, just as the project was getting off the ground, paiN Gaming was hit by the worst crisis in its fifteen‑year history. In March 2026, following investigative reports into the organisation’s handling of sexual abuse allegations against League of Legends player Alexandre “TitaN” Lima, long‑standing CEO Thomas Hamence resigned.
The reports alleged that paiN’s administration had not only been aware of the severity of the situation but had actively attempted to shield the player. Meetings with organised supporter groups were reportedly framed as damage control rather than accountability.
The backlash was immediate and brutal. Some of paiN’s most prominent fan groups severed all ties. Social media filled with vows from lifelong supporters to walk away. The organisation issued a statement admitting a “stain” on its history and a catastrophic moral error driven by a survival‑focused corporate logic.
On the competitive front, things went downhill from there. In League of Legends, historically the organisation’s main pillar, paiN endured one of the worst splits in CBLOL (Brazilian League of Legends Championship) history, winning just a single match. The pressure for deeper leadership changes—beyond Hamence’s departure—continued and continues to this day.
For NWB, the crisis triggered immediate concern. Barros acknowledges that the news made the company very alert. “We take great care of our brand and have a huge responsibility towards our audience,” he says. When the reports began to surface, he called Arthur “PAADA” Curiati (paiN Gaming Owner) to understand the situation and the measures being taken. “Once again, it was an opportunity for us to reinforce the company’s values and maintain alignment with what we believe in for the partnership.”
Despite the turbulence, NWB chose not to pause the project. In the middle of this chaos, DesimpaiN kept playing.
A Refuge, Not a Rescue
The Kings League team offered something that CBLOL could not in those weeks: a reason to cheer without shame or anger, explained Giulia “Caju” Capitani, paiN’s Head of Innovation, describing DesimpaiN as a “refuge” for fans during the height of the crisis. “It occupies a place in the supporter’s heart that is impossible to reach any other way,” she told The Esports Radar. That place, she explains, was built during paiN’s glory years—untouched by the recent scandals.
Daniel Sewell, Content and Project Manager for DesimpaiN at NWB, witnessed this dynamic at a pre‑split summit with paiN’s supporter groups. “I asked, ‘What is it like to cheer for paiN?’ They said: ‘We never leave paiN aside. We will always be by their side, regardless of what is happening.’
That loyalty, Sewell notes, is not conditional on the game being played. “Whoever likes watching competition, it’s good for them to watch.”
But it would be a mistake to suggest that DesimpaiN has “saved” paiN. The fanbase remains furious. Calls for further leadership changes, especially towards CMO Sharis Endres, are still prominent on social media. The Kings League team’s positive results—including notable wins against rivals like LOUD and FURIA and granting early qualification to the upcoming international competition Kings World Cup—have provided moments of relief, not resolution.
Despite the turmoil, the logic of the DesimpaiN partnership remains intact. Each side brings something the other lacks, and early signs suggest the arrangement is delivering tangible value.
From NWB’s perspective, the partnership has already opened commercial doors. Daniel Sewell notes that “eyes opened” after the merger. “Whether you like it or not, we have a very heavy brand in Desimpedidos. Then comes paiN, which is essentially the same thing for the world of esports. Brands cannot ignore it.”
A sponsorship deal with sports retailer Centauro has been secured, and other commercial conversations are ongoing. André Barros adds that DesimpaiN is “an intellectual property in itself” with a place in the Kings League that should appreciate in value year after year.
For paiN, the most immediate benefit is access to Desimpedidos’ massive football audience. Caju is blunt about the strategic rationale: “We need to go where the hype is now.”
That place, she argues, is the Kings League—with its roster of celebrity presidents and its heavy, gamified production. “It’s a gold mine,” she says. “The objective isn’t immediate financial return. The objective is image. You are there, in the moment.”
By diversifying into the Kings League, paiN reduces its over‑reliance on a single esports title. While the CBLOL season collapsed and recent results in Counter-Strike 2 were not so expressive, DesimpaiN provided an alternative front—one that kept the brand visible and, crucially, kept fans engaged.
A Work in Progress
The Kings League, for its part, gains a genuinely passionate, well‑organised fanbase. Esports supporters are digital natives who know how to create noise online and show up physically. Sewell describes helping paiN’s fans organise flags, flares, and choreographed celebrations—elements that traditional football clubs spend years cultivating.
André Barros embraces this as part of the project’s long‑term strategy. “I have no doubts,” he says. “This is one of the main tools of sport: the construction of great stories, great idols, and the strengthening of a legacy.”
How long the partnership can sustain amidst paiN’s ongoing crisis remains to be seen. For now, it is providing a bridge—a way for disaffected fans to stay connected to the brand while the organisation attempts to rebuild trust. DesimpaiN has not solved paiN Gaming’s problems. The TitaN scandal has left deep scars. The fanbase is fractured and many supporters are still demanding leadership changes beyond the former CEO’s resignation.
What DesimpaiN has done is offer a parallel track—a place where paiN could walk far from the eye of the storm, generate positive attention, and experiment with new audiences. In an industry where esports organisations often rise and fall on a single game, that kind of diversification is not trivial.
But it is also not a redemption story, at least not for now. The real test for paiN will be whether it can apply the lessons of this partnership—innovation, community proximity, cross‑audience appeal—to its core operations. Until then, DesimpaiN remains an interesting experiment running alongside an unresolved crisis.
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