In competitions with high prize money, cheaters are often up to no good. Such incidents also occur in esports. What is behind it?
Many gamers try to make the leap to the professional stage in the course of their career. Most fail and only a few become part of the best players in their discipline. But even for those who make it, things don’t always go smoothly and negative influences give some players some not-so-clever ideas.
In match fixing, they put their whole career and future at risk just to get money in a fraudulent way. In Riot’s shooter VALORANT, too, the first such case became known last month.
What is match fixing and why is it so bad?
Nowadays, most betting providers have already included Esport in their portfolio. Above all, bets can be placed on matches of the best-known Esport titles such as League of Legends, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Co.
In the past, not only fans of digital competition but also professional players directly from the scene have taken advantage of this. They place bets on their own game in advance and then manipulate the outcome so that they pocket the entire profit. This is then divided among all participants.
In 2014, for example, the two North American Counter-Strike teams iBuyPower and NetcodeGuides made a name for themselves and caused the first CS:GO match-fixing scandal ever. iBuyPower was the clear favourite, but lost the match on purpose and thus secured the betting profit.
Such cheating is not welcomed by tournament organisers as it violates the competitive integrity of the competition and the fundamentals of fair play.
Therefore, players involved are usually banned from tournaments for several years or even permanently. In some cases, they even have to expect a prison sentence. Since the beginning of 2021, even the FBI has become involved in the investigation and is handling cases in cooperation with the Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC).
After participating in such activities, that’s usually it for the professional career. The only way to save oneself is to have the ban lifted or to switch to another video game and make a fresh start. Nevertheless, it doesn’t exactly leave a positive mark on one’s CV.
First VALORANT incident
The first incident has now also occurred in VALORANT. At the Epulze Royal SEA Cup in September 2020, 16 Asian teams competed against each other for a prize money of $25,000. Among the teams was the invited Singaporean roster of Team Resurgence. They faced Team BlackBird Ignis, among others, in Group B.
The group match between the two teams ended 2-0 for BlackIgnis. Resurgence player Germsg and his colleague and backer Dreamycsgo bet $2,000 on exactly this result. Germsg played badly on purpose and caused the defeat.
The scandal was not immediately noticed, but after lengthy investigations, Riot released a statement about the incidents on 16 June 2021. In it, the two cheats were accused of having violated Riot guidelines. They were thus banned from the Valorant Champions Tour (VCT) for three years each.
The teammates not directly involved were also punished for not communicating their teammate’s cheating activities to Riot. In the process, two players were banned for one year each and the other two for six months. You can find the exact statement from Riot here.
Why match fixing?
The path to quick money also tempts people in esports to do thoughtless things. For a mostly rather marginal amount, players put their careers and thus their entire potential on the line. Afterwards, it is very difficult to take a step back into the professional industry.
Everything that has been built up through hard work is destroyed again out of pure greed. It is especially bad when individual players let the whole team down and drive it to ruin.
Moreover, this kind of distortion of the competition is not in the spirit of sport and esport, because it also ensures that the course of an entire tournament is massively affected.
