Cheating in esports

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Cheating in esports is a deliberate violation of the rules of an

Ritalin and Adderall, and match fixing
.

Unlike traditional sports, esports may not be recognized as official sports in many countries, leading to a lack of standardized regulations. Additionally, video game developers and individual tournament organizers may have differing approaches to enforcement, leading to inconsistencies in handling cheating incidents. Several global governing bodies, such as the Esports Integrity Commission, have made efforts to establish and enforce integrity policies, but they have largely been unsuccessful.

Background

Main article: Esports

Esports involve professional teams competing in organized, competitive video games. Similar to traditional sports, these professional esports players are often signed by esports organizations to participate in leagues and tournaments. Various

The International featured a prize pool exceeding US$47 million.[2] Given the potential for significant financial gain, players may be tempted to resort to cheating.[1]

Esports specific regulation

In contrast to traditional major league sports like

regulations, esports operates with a considerable degree of autonomy. The absence of widespread recognition of esports as an official sport in many countries poses challenges for implementing comprehensive regulation. Consequently, the responsibility of rule-setting in esports tournaments usually falls to the individual organizers, with their guidelines subject to approval from the respective video game developers.[1]

Esports competitions are regulated by two main types of entities: game-neutral and game-specific organizations. The game-neutral entities, such as the

League of Legends Championship Series, and the Call of Duty League.[3]

Types of cheating

Cheating in esports can be broadly categorized into two types: cheating to win and cheating to lose. Cheating to win involves attempting to gain an unfair advantage over opponents through illegitimate means. Common forms include using software cheats, online attacks, and doping.[6][4] Cheating to lose refers to intentionally underperforming or losing a match, usually for financial gain. It can be achieved through actions like match fixing, corrupting officials, spot-fixing, and manipulating tournament structures.[5]

Cheating to win

Software cheats

Wallhacks allow players to see the position of their opponent without having to be in line of sight of them.

One prevalent form of cheating in esports involves the use of unauthorized software, commonly known as software cheats. These cheats provide players with an unfair advantage over their opponents, compromising the integrity of the competition. One notable type of software cheat is the

anti-cheat software to detect and prevent the use of these illicit practices. However, some sophisticated cheats may still evade detection.[4]

An illustrative example of a player utilizing software assistance is the case of

wallhacks during the online matches, resulting in a two-year ban for the player. Following this ban, XektoR's team took ESL to the District Court of Cologne. While the court did not make a statement on whether XektoR cheated or not, they deemed the measures taken by ESL as appropriate.[7][8]

Software cheats are not limited to online play alone. In another instance, during the Extremesland Zowie Asia CS:GO 2018 tournament in Shanghai, player

Nikhil "Forsaken" Kumawat was caught using an aimbot. As the tournament administrator approached Forsaken to examine his computer, he attempted to dismiss the administrator and quickly delete the hack to avoid detection. As a result, his team, OpTic India, was disqualified from the event, and the team disbanded entirely.[9] After a comprehensive review of Kumawat's play from a previous tournament, the India Premiership Fall Finals, ESL India found conclusive evidence of cheating in both events, leading to a five-year ban by ESIC.[7]

Hardware cheats

Tournament organizers often impose restrictions on the type of hardware that players are allowed to use during esports events. While many tournaments permit players to bring their own mouse and keyboard, this allowance creates the potential for unauthorized equipment to be used.[10]

For instance, during Dota 2's event The International 2018, the Peruvian team Thunder Predator faced disqualification after it was discovered that one of their players, Atún, had programmed macro commands into his mouse during a qualifying match on June 19, 2018. The tournament organizer, FACEIT, deemed the use of a programmable mouse equivalent to running a software script, leading to the disqualification of Thunder Predator from the competition.[11][12]

Hardware cheats extend beyond mice and keyboards. In another incident involving CS:GO, a player known as Ra1f was caught using a hardware cheat in 2018. Ra1f used a technique that involved connecting a second computer to his main computer, bypassing the anti-cheat technology employed by the ESEA league. This hardware cheat allowed him to gain an unfair advantage by revealing the positions of all his opponents during matches.[10]

Bug exploitation

Software bugs are an unavoidable occurrence in most video games. Some individuals or teams may exploit these bugs to gain an unfair advantage over their opponents. While most esports integrity policies strictly prohibit intentional bug exploitation, the unintentional use of a bug may be tolerated under certain circumstances.[3]

CS:GO has witnessed several instances of intentional bug abuse. For example, in a match at

gentleman's agreement to refrain from exploiting the bug in future matches.[13]

Bug exploits are typically executed by players, but one of the most significant bug abuse scandals in esports was the Counter-Strike coaching bug scandal. In August 2020, ESL banned three coaches who had taken advantage of a bug that allowed them to see parts of the map they should not have had access to during matches.[14] Following further investigations, the ESIC imposed sanctions on 37 coaches in September, resulting in bans ranging from five to 36 months.[15] In May 2022, ESIC issued nearly 100 new sanctions, further penalizing individuals involved in the spectator bug exploitation scandal.[16]

Doping

Similar to

National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA) adheres to the same restricted list as WADA. However, it remains uncertain whether the regulations of USADA or NADA are directly applicable to esports athletes.[4]

In 2015, the issue of Adderall use in the professional CS:GO scene came to light when Kory "Semphis" Friesen, a professional CS:GO player, openly acknowledged that nearly all players were using the drug. In response, the ESL implemented anti-doping policies similar to those in cycling and the Olympics by August 2015.

Washington Post revealed that the use of Adderall had been an "open secret in the esports community for years". Despite this knowledge, many leagues neither conduct drug testing nor explicitly prohibit the use of such drugs in esports competitions.[1]

Ghosting

Stage setup at the Galen Center for the 2012 League of Legends World championship

Ghosting refers to the act of a player or team obtaining external information during a match from sources outside of the official game environment, such as stream viewers or the live audience.

2012 League of Legends World Championship. In the midst of the match, a player from Frost appeared to glance at the spectator screens, enabling him to gain insight into the positions of his opponents.[18] Riot Games investigated the incident and decided to uphold the match's outcome, stating that the incident did not significantly impact the game's result. However, they imposed a $30,000 fine on Azubu Frost for the infraction. Furthermore, Riot examined four other instances of potential screen watching during the World Championship and determined that none of them affected match outcomes.[19]

Another notable occurrence of ghosting transpired at the 2019 Fortnite World Cup Finals. During the event, player Mark "Letw1k3" Danilov was observed looking at the spectator screen, which was strictly forbidden by the World Cup rules. Danilov received multiple warnings before eventually being disqualified and removed from the match.[20]

Online attacks

While some esports events are held in live stadiums with an audience, numerous qualifying matches and knockout stages take place online. During these online competitions, players and teams may encounter online attacks, commonly known as

distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks. In such attacks, the perpetrator directs a massive influx of traffic to disrupt a player's internet connection, leading to significant lag that renders the game unplayable for the affected player.[4]

One notable incident took place in 2015 during a League of Legends European Challenger Series match between Denial Esports and Dignitas. A player from Denial experienced a DDoS attack during the match, which forced the team to pause the game. Despite the player's efforts to relocate to different locations to resume the match, they were repeatedly targeted with DDoS attacks, making it impossible to continue. Consequently, Denial Esports had to forfeit the match after surpassing the maximum pause duration of ten minutes.[21]

Cheating to lose

Match fixing

Wire Act of 1961 and the Sports Bribery Act of 1964. However, the application of these acts to esports remains uncertain, as the recognition of esports as a sport in the traditional sense varies among different jurisdictions.[22]

The first major incident of match fixing in esports occurred in 2010 when the Korea e-Sports Association (KeSPA), an organization managing esports in South Korea, permanently banned 11 StarCraft players and imposed fines after finding them guilty of match fixing. Some of the players involved also faced legal consequences and were sentenced to jail.[23] Another StarCraft match-fixing scandal emerged in 2016, where StarCraft II World Champion Lee "Life" Seung-hyun admitted to receiving approximately $62,000 to deliberately lose two matches in May 2015. As a consequence, he received a lifetime ban from KeSPA and faced imprisonment.[24] One of the largest match fixing scandals in esports occurred when South Korean authorities arrested 12 individuals, including three players, involved in five fixed StarCraft II matches in October 2015.[22]

The Counter-Strike match fixing scandal in 2015 involving iBUYPOWER and NetCodeGuides was one of the most notable instances in esports.[4] It was revealed that iBUYPOWER deliberately lost a match against NetCodeGuides in August 2014. As a result, seven players were banned from participating in future Valve-sponsored events.[25]

Spot fixing

Spot fixing is a form of match manipulation similar to match fixing, but instead of fixing the outcome of an entire match, it involves manipulating specific parts or moments of the game. This is often done in coordination with proposition bet or specific in-game events that can be targeted for illicit gains. In May 2022, allegations of spot fixing emerged against the CS:GO team PARTY regarding a match that took place during the StarLadder Regional Minor Championship CIS closed qualifier in 2015.[26]

Structural tournament manipulation

Structural tournament manipulation is a form of cheating in esports where teams deliberately underperform or manipulate their performance to take advantage of the specific structure or format of a tournament. The goal is to strategically position themselves for a more favorable outcome in subsequent stages of the competition. This type of cheating is relatively uncommon in esports, but one notable occurrence of structural tournament manipulation took place during the Counter-Strike match fixing scandal in 2014 involving the teams iBUYPOWER and NetCodeGuides.[4]

See also

References

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  2. ^ GLHF (December 29, 2021). "7 biggest esports games by prize money in 2021". For The Win. USA Today. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
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  7. ^ a b Ashton, Graham (May 27, 2019). "Cheating in Esports – How Is It Done, and How Is It Dealt With?". The Esports Observer. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
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  9. ^ Good, Owen (October 21, 2018). "Watch a Counter-Strike pro get caught cheating during a major esports tournament". Polygon. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  10. ^ a b Fuentes, Mayra Rosario; Mercês, Fernando (October 29, 2019). "Cheats, Hacks, and Cyberattacks: Threats to the Esports Industry in 2019 and Beyond" (PDF). Trend Micro Research. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  11. ^ Savov, Vlad (June 26, 2018). "Dota 2 team dumped from tournament for cheating with a programmable mouse". The Verge. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
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  14. ^ Chalk, Andy (August 31, 2020). "Multiple CS:GO coaches used a spectator bug to cheat in tournaments, says ESL". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
  15. ^ Matthews, Emma (September 28, 2020). "37 CS:GO coaches have been banned for abusing the Spectator bug". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 28, 2022.
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  18. ^ Zacny, Rob (May 29, 2014). "Bad to worse: allegations of cheating at League of Legends playoffs, Team SoloMid's Reginald expresses view that Azubu Frost abused the stage minimap". PCGamesN. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  19. ^ Hafer, Leana (October 10, 2012). "Riot rules on League of Legends screen watching incident, issues $30,000 fine". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
  20. ^ Hernandez, Patricia (July 29, 2019). "Fortnite pro removed from World Cup match for screen watching". Polygon. Retrieved May 25, 2022.
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  22. ^ a b Holden, John; Rodenberg, Ryan; Kaburakis, Anastasios (December 5, 2017). "Esports Corruption: Gambling, Doping, and Global Governance". Maryland Journal of International Law. 32 (1): 236–273.
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  24. ^ Chiu, Stephen (April 25, 2016). "The life of Life: Chronicling the rise and fall of Lee "Life" Seung Hyun". ESPN. Retrieved May 26, 2022.
  25. ^ Chalk, Andy (January 26, 2015). "Valve bans seven CS:GO pro players from tournament play for match fixing". PC Gamer. Retrieved May 27, 2022.
  26. Dot Esports
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