Esports is an industry built by legions of obsessive and hyper-competitive gamers who have achieved unimaginable wealth and fame playing video games. It is funded by a rogue gallery of mega-rich sports owners who are willing to exploit all its lucrative ventures without long-term investment in culture or taste. , is known for being agnostic and obsessive, especially for analyzing the faintest hints of behind-the-scenes drama with the keen attention of a particularly scrupulous Taylor Swift fan. With all these elements in place, what could go wrong?
Yes, esports has been the scene of much controversy over the past 12 years. Some of them are small and confined to well-defined niches, others are nasty, borderline criminals who can turn entire organizations into tankers. Time serves as his capsule at the pinnacle of industry incandescence. At the time, obscene sums of cash were pumped into the pro gaming bubble, enabling countless incidents of overexposure, fraud, and ignorant management. In 2022, stories like this are becoming increasingly rare. The gluttonous frenzy goes on, providing more space for true die-hard esports organizations to thrive. That’s good. Read on and despair.
Forsaken Brings Aimbots To Counter-Strike Tournaments
Aimbots are treated punitively no matter where the player is fighting them. If you’re running up the Counter-Strike ladder (even if there’s no money on the line) and you’re caught with illegal software, expect a quick ban and a lifetime account suspension.Needless to say, the same trick official esports tournaments, When very high bets, You are officially risking everything.
Nikhil “Forsaken” Kumawat did not receive the memo when he entered the 2018 eXtremesland tournament. His aimbot alerted anti-cheat software, and cameras caught him frantically removing contraband from his computer. his computer. (These images in the video above have become something of a joke in the Counter-Strike community.) Forsaken has been banned from playing professionally for a long time and is now retired. I can’t say I’m that surprised.
Over 30 CS:GO Coaches Found Cheating
Another CS:GO cheating scandal followed in 2020, when at least 37 professional CS:GO coaches exploited a bug that allowed them to freely spectate the map during a match and communicate information to their teams. was discovered. They were sanctioned by his Esports Integrity Commission, and in 2021 he will be permanently banned by Valve himself from his four coaches, with new rules prohibiting non-players from joining servers during competition. created. (2021 also sees him suspended 35 of his CS:GO players for betting on matches. It’s been a scandalous year for CS:GO.)
CS: Go again, but this time drag
In 2015, ESL said “esports needs to mature” after a member of North American CS:GO team Cloud9 revealed the team was “all on Adderall” at ESL One Katowice. and suggested that “everyone” at the event attend the event. A stimulant used to treat ADHD. After the incident, the league began randomized drug testing.
CS:GO Once More: Skin Gamble
In 2016, the practice of CS:GO skin gambling escalated into years of major fallout controversy, including fraudulent promotional videos and closed ads, state intervention, and a scandal involving multiple lawsuits.
Echo Fox Implosion
Looking back, I don’t think there’s an organization that perfectly encapsulates the golden surplus of the esports boom like Echo Fox. It was a company founded by Rick Fox, a veteran NBA swingman known more for his amazing good looks than his basketball prowess. rice field.This was the convention back then. (Can you believe H1Z1 once had an esports format? Business partners filed a duel against each other, with the former accusing the latter of using racist language and fraudulent business practices, the latter making claims (opens in new tab) of “terribly incompetent management”. While the specific details of what caused the rift are still unknown, Echo Fox remains a microcosm of how quickly and spectacularly an esports organization can go up in flames. There is a lot of stupid money in this industry. Then now and forever.
Life Fixes StarCraft Game And Ends Up In Prison
It’s the most famous esports scandal in history, simply because the main criminal landed in an actual prison for indiscretion. It was a top name in the community. He was very dominant in his early 2010s, during StarCraft 2’s heyday. As it turned out, Life had a gambling problem and was bound to a match-fixing ring where he deliberately threw the game for a huge payout from a South Korean sportsbook. and earned an 18-month prison stint as punishment. He never played professionally again. This shows how huge the video game business has become. In our weird cyberpunk modern age, we can offer StarCraft time.
Massive match-fixing scandals have also affected other esports such as CS:GO and Dota 2.
Andy Ding gets the best of his temper
Andy Dinh is a miraculous pro gaming success story. He entered the industry as a rookie (a modest League of Legends grinder) and slowly grew his esports organization, his Team SoloMid, into an international juggernaut. unfortunately, Last year, the Washington Post reportedDing also regularly pissed off staff, creating a bitter, toxic environment in the TSM office.
When the report hit the internet, League of Legends officials conducted an independent investigation and found, as a result, “the pattern and practices of slander and bullying displayed by Andy Ding towards TSM players and staff.” was sentenced to two years of disqualification and a fine of $75,000. “This is one of the tensions in the rapid rise of esports. After all, these companies are all start-ups that lack the structure and accountability of experienced businesses.” (That doesn’t mean experienced businesses don’t have the same problems, especially as we’ve seen in the games industry.)
Carlo “Kuku” Palad’s Frenzy Gamer Moments
Dota 2 team TNC Predator’s offlaner Carlo “Kuku” Palad got an old comment back as he prepared for the 2019 Major in Chongqing, China. In 2018, Kuku was losing a public match against another Chinese team, and just before the final curtain fell, he typed the word “chinchong” into chat. It’s a clear racist slur to the opponents of , and you don’t need to understand that pressure is mounting in China to ban Kuku from playing at the event.
Initially, Valve was in its hands, but as the controversy refused to go away (and after TNC Predator lashed out at certain reprimands against the player), the company eventually decided that Kuku would never play in the majors. refused. Rumors swirled that, like other game flaps tied to larger Sino-US relations, the Chinese state itself was involved in forcing Valve to act. The Chongqing government also independently restricted Kuku from entering the city. (opens in new tab).) Years later, Kuku is a successful Dota 2 pro, but I doubt the love between him and the game’s Chinese contingencies has been lost.
Blitzchung pokes a bear
Staying with this theme, in 2019 a Hearthstone pro named Blitzchung, aka Ng Wai Chung, won a Hearthstone Grandmasters tournament in Taiwan. At the end of his triumphant interview, Blitzchung proclaimed “Liberate Hong Kong, the revolution of our time” in support of protests against Hong Kong’s extradition bill that was taking place at the time. Blizzard responded with ridiculously severe penalties, which bystanders quickly attributed to pressure from the Chinese government, which is notoriously sensitive to these speech violations. Blitzchung was forced to give up the prize money, and competitive Hearthstone gave him a one-year suspension. The result was widespread outrage from Blizzard fans and an outright boycott. Blizzard later returned his Blitzchung bounty and reduced the ban period to six months, admitting that he had acted too quickly, but pressure from the Chinese government or the content of Blitzchung’s statement had influenced that decision. denied being affected.
This is more of an esports controversy than anything else, but it was also the first big blow in Blizzard’s continued downfall. It set the stage for years of sexism allegations that pre-empted job cuts, union-busting Activision Blizzard, and its ongoing sale to Microsoft. After Blitzchung, everything went downhill for him, one of the most iconic video game makers of all time.