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ESPORTS & MATCH-FIXING PANDASCORE


Esports and match-fixing: a new way forward?


Much like traditional sports, esports faces betting-related challenges with match-fixing.


Just as in sports, it’s something that can never truly be avoided; it varies from game to game and by level of skill.


An increasingly hot topic, Flavien Guillocheau, CEO of Pandascore, explains why the ever-growing interest in esports is heightening the stakes.


Despite its rapid growth, esports is still a developing market. With more opportunities to play, there are also unfortunately more cases of match-fixing. Proper competitive foundations are still being built and even the most popular titles see huge evolution year after year.


One of the biggest sources of match-fixing comes from lower-level competition where cash prizes are fairly small, making the risk-taking action of match-fixing much more appealing. Premier events like Dota 2’s Te International and CS:GO Majors incentivise players to stay competitive with impressive prize pools, boasting $40m and $2m in prizes respectively.


Franchised leagues in League of Legends and Call of Duty also provide players competitive salaries and more job security, removing financial incentives to match fix. Tis is simply because a large part of match-fixing comes down to economics. Just like low-level football, table tennis, and other sports, it’s ordinary people with food, rent and utilities to pay.


With that being said, it’s not all doom and P98 WIRE / PULSE / INSIGHT / REPORTS


Flavien Guillocheau, CEO, Pandascore


gloom. Te Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC), the industry’s peak integrity body has been operating in this space since 2015. Te body acts as an authority, aiming to combat cheating, match-fixing and other challenges to competitive integrity, as well as an educator through its integrity program and various partnerships.


In an emerging market, this is a strong indicator of a promising future for esports: with proper education, investigations, and punishments becoming a strong deterrent for match-fixing.


ESPORTS' MATCH-FIXING HISTORY


Esports has seen a few instances of match- fixing over the years. While it’s more common in the lower-levels, we have seen some major players and teams face match-fixing bans. High profile cases include the ban and arrest of StarCraft 2 player “Life” in Korea in 2014,


IBuyPower’s indefinite ban from Counter-Strike in 2015 and Dota 2 publisher Valve banning Chinese team Newbee for fixing matches in 2020.


Most major match-fixing examples date back to the earlier days of esports, whereas now when it does happen it’s on lower-level competitions. Recent cases of match-fixing sit at the regional levels, including ESIC issuing sanctions against 35 Counter-Strike players in at the start of 2021 and investigating suspicious activity at a CIS regional event.


Some may also be concerned with cheating within esports, especially with terms like ‘wallhacks’ or ‘aimbot’ being thrown around, which means using software or bugs in the game to gain a competitive advantage, such as being able to see opponents through walls.


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