Events
IAGA SUMMIT New York 2017
How do we address all these issues?
Ryan Morrison: How long do we have to get into this one? Tere is no league in esports, there is no one game in esports (heck, the most popular one is named Overwatch, which you used with a different meaning in your question). Tere's not magic solution here, and it starts with realising there is no "esport" more than there is a "sport." Each game requires different rules, considerations, and regulations. Te publishers own the football here, and its their job to start the policing. Each game has a different publisher and therefore a different immediate regulator.
Ian Smith: ESIC has been addressing these issues for nearly a year already through the ESIC Programme. Every element mentioned in the question is covered in detail except for controls governing commercial agreements (we don’t interfere in the commercial activities of our members). Te issue is really with inconsistency across the industry and we’re trying to address that by building a coalition to address these key issues. We’ll get there, but there’s a long way to go.
We have already seen the first prosecutions for in-game skins item trading and betting. How does the industry control this aspect of eSports?
Ryan Morrison: It doesn't. Tis decision has also seen no changes in the industry I am aware of.
Ian Smith: Again, there are two key stakeholders involved here – first the publishers need to be careful about how they enable the acquisition and trading of in-game items and consider gambling when they set up their systems. Second, the regulators need to engage with law enforcement and enforce the laws that underpin their ability to regulate and prosecute. It’s worth adding that governments are also complicit here and need to play their part – if a countries idea of gambling regulation is to simply prohibit it, then it has to then actively enforce that prohibition. Finally, all the engaged parties need to start cooperating, rather than seeing
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themselves as adversaries.
Do you see the use virtual currencies used to bet/trade as an issue in itself within eSports?
Ian Smith: No more so that in any other form of gambling. Te only esports unique challenge arises when in-game items become, in themselves, virtual currencies and that is a matter in the control of the publishers. We saw it happen with skins in CS:GO and DOTA2 and that continues to be an issue, but much less so than it was before Valve took action.
Ryan Morrison: Yes for a plethora of reasons, mostly being that regulators don't inherently understand what it is. On the flip side, it is most certainly "consideration" to make these wagers gambling. Don't let shady internet forums fool you otherwise.
What levels of risk are video games companies and gambling operators opening themselves up to when they combine their activities to offer eSports betting?
Ryan Morrison: A ton, especially in its current form. Let's look to Washington and Valve to see how bad it turns out.
Ian Smith: First, practically no video games company has combined their activities with gambling operators – the two industries work more or less isolated from each other – some do supply official data and some accept sponsorship from regulated betting operators, but this sort of interaction is very rare. Currently, I think the risks some betting operators are taking are outrageous. I’ve seen markets offered for matches that had been played two weeks before. I’ve seen markets offered based on a time delayed broadcast feed.
I see multiple suspicious betting alerts raised because the bookmaker has just got the market wrong – far more than I ever saw in traditional sports. Tis is understandable to an extent in a new “sport” without the history and wealth of data available in traditional sports, but a lot of it
is just reckless pursuit of a slice of the market at any cost. Te risk to games companies is the reputational (and, therefore, revenue) risk they will suffer if their game is linked to a major match-fixing scandal arising from betting fraud. Tis is what ESIC is trying to prevent.
Do you think that playing a video game for a prize should require a gambling licence?
Ian Smith: No – it’s not gambling. Tese are not games of chance, they are games of skill. And should the participants in eSports competitions be allowed to bet on themselves to win? Absolutely not – no player should be allowed to bet on any match in the game he plays – period. Tere is far too much of an integrity risk on a player being involved in any way with wagering on the game he or she plays.
To be clear, I mean that, if a player plays CS:GO, he or she should not bet on any game of CS:GO anywhere at any time. Tis is accepted practice in the vast majority of traditional sports and it exists for good reason.
Ryan Morrison: Tat's a big question as well, but if you mean "I bet you five dollars I can beat you in this game," then no, that's a skill based competition and not gambling under most jurisdictions. However betting on yourself in a tournament (akin to pro baseball players betting on themselves) becomes wrong for a lot of other reasons, such as match-fixing.
Is the association of gambling with video gaming a concept that’s going to lead to eSports bans in certain markets?
Ryan Morrison: Absolutely not. Esports are here despite what anyone above the age of 40 wants. Your children know their favorite esport player over their favorite football player, and it's only gaining popularity every day. As long as there are video games there will be esports. It is ludicrous to think they are going anywhere but up.
Ian Smith: Possibly, but only out of ignorance.
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