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Insight ESPORTS Integrity Coalition


and the Board Member at ESIC. “ESL is proud to be a part of ESIC are looking forward to developing and evolving the initiative further with industry partners and influencers. Tis is a big day for eSports and we couldn’t be happier.”


Betway’s Anthony Werkman added: “We are fiercely passionate about eSports and are delighted to be one of the founding members of ESIC that will serve and protect the sport we care deeply for. We’ve made significant investments in our eSports team over the past few years and are delighted to see the sport getting the recognition it deserves from the wider public. Te integrity of eSports is paramount to its continued success, and we’re certain that the creation of the EISC will ensure the sport enjoys further success in the years to come.”


David Lampitt of Sportradar said “Te world of esport is experiencing explosive growth and it is important that the stakeholders protect its integrity in parallel. Te creation of ESIC is a welcome milestone in that process. We have already adapted our industry- leading monitoring system to ensure it is fully tailored to the eSports environment, for example, including skins betting sites. We have also started to deliver bespoke educational programs with a workshop in conjunction with ESIC at the Intel Extreme Masters earlier this year. We look forward to supporting the important work of ESIC in safeguarding the credibility of the competitions that eSports fans follow and love.”


Unikrn's Bryce Blum added: "Treats to competitive integrity are a problem for every eSports stakeholder. Unikrn is proud to be a founding member of ESIC, which we see as the first concrete step toward creating a collaborative approach addressing this issue. It is only by working with one another that we will be able to develop unified rules and enforcement mechanisms. Competitive integrity cannot be safeguarded individually. We must work together to achieve the results on which our businesses and the industry we love depend."


ESIC has appointed Sheridans as legal counsel. Sheridans, who have well-established practices in both traditional sports, eSports, and computer games, will advise ESIC across regulatory, governance and policy matters.


SUPPORT FROM THE ESPORTS INDUSTRY “Plantronics is a proud contributor to the integrity


of eSports by providing industry leading RIG Commander Pro noise cancelling headphones to eSports providers and tournament producers like ESL, MLG and Riot Games, to keep outside noise from interfering or negatively influencing players. We were supportive to the idea of ESIC when it was first discussed earlier this year and as it evolved under Ian Smith’s guidance, it has been incredible to see it become a viable solution to the integrity threats eSports faces. I trust all other eSports stakeholders will see the merit of this project and lend their support as well. Plantronics congratulates ESIC on its launch and wishes it every success as it helps our industry professionalize.” - Corey Rosemond, Head of Global eSports, Plantronics


COUNTER PRODUCTIVE COUNTER-STRIKE BETTING SYNDICATE


Te need for an eSports Integrity Coalition was highlighted last month as a scandal unfolded in the US involving the already highly dubious practice of wagering on the Valve videogame first person shooter, Counter-Strike GO. In the June issue of G3 magazine, Rahul Sood, CEO of Unikrn and Mark Robson, Head of eGaming on the Isle of Man, highlighted the risk to the eSports industry as young people wager sums in excess of $20,000 on skins betting websites – in which players barter for virtual weapons and upgrades. An increasing number of websites allow people to trade virtual items for real currency, with the volume of cash wagered on skins in 2015, estimated at $800m.


Adding petrol to the fire, it appears that two Youtubers, followed by a combined number of 11 million subscribers, have surreptitiously established their own betting site for players to trade skins, and then released videos of themselves ecstatically winning sums of up to $13,000 by playing on the site they own.


Both YouTubers have posted numerous videos showing themselves successfully gambling on CSGOLotto.com, a site which allows Counter Strike players – including those under the legal gambling age due to a loophole the site exploits – to gamble with weapon skins which have real-world monetary value. CSGOlotto.com allows players to gamble these skins, like chips in a casino, against other players. An RNG then decides a winner. Other websites allow these skins to be bet on the outcome of competitive CS:GO matches.


Te Youtubers, ‘TmarTn’ and ‘ProSyndicate’ are the President and Vice President of the site, CSGOLotto, which they heavily promote, but have failed to disclose their relationship to the website in any way in the videos they created. Tough they have since edited their declarations, the pair may be in violation of US Federal Trade Commission (FTC) regulations relating to endorsements on social media sites.


As Rahul Sood stated about this issue: “Tese random gambling sites have


spawned everywhere. Not one of them is regulated, licensed, and their legal situation is highly questionable. Not one of these sites supports responsible wagering. It’s a total mess.”


In response to recent controversy surrounding CS:GO’s ability to allow users to trade in-game items and the use of that functionality by third-party sites for gambling, the makers of the game, Valve, has announced it will begin asking these sites to "cease operations through Steam" and effectively ban item gambling on the service. Valve's Erik Johnson stated: Using the OpenID API and making the same web calls as Steam users to run a gambling business is not allowed by our API nor our user agreements. We are going to start sending notices to these sites requesting they cease operations through Steam, and further pursue the matter as necessary. Users should probably consider this information as they manage their in-game item inventory and trade activity.”


James Watson, Head of eSports at Betradar added: “Valve have done the right thing by responding to the growing concerns around these unregulated sites, though there is an element of ‘let’s wait and see’ as a range of stakeholders will want to see the fallout from the statement. Te statement seems to draw a line between the existing skins sites, which do not undertake proper KYC and age verification processes, and the regulated, traditional betting operators, which are growing in number by the month. Te more pressure and restrictions that are placed on the skins sites, the more likely it is that eSports bettors will migrate to regulated betting operators. Tis should be welcomed, as these operators know and look after their customers, offer stable and reliable markets (especially if they call on our suite of solutions) and are better equipped to identify accounts and bettors involved in matchfixing.


“Regulated betting is a well-established way for fans to engage in their favourite sports and Valve’s decision should ensure eSports fans get a safer and more credible environment in which to bet.”


NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / 247.COM P25


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