There will be no chance for these guys to get parole!
[dropcap size=small]N[/dropcap]early a year ago, there was an incident between two pro teams where one of the teams ended up throwing the game. Valve, the company that developed CS:GO, made the decision to ban them for life. They were accused of match-fixing and were banned from CS:GO competitive permanently.
iBuyPower, the team that threw the game, originally thought their team name was hilarious. Well, who’s laughing now? Valve made an example out of iBuyPower for what will happen to those who choose to cheat and are found guilty in the future. Valve issued the following statement of the situation:
“Back in January and early February 2015 we took action after we discovered that a small number of professional CS:GO players were engaged in match-fixing. Our decision was to ban these players indefinitely from involvement in Valve-sponsored events. To clarify, the bans for these players are permanent, and players proven to have taken part in match-fixing will be permanently banned.”
“As the scene grows, it’s an unfortunate reality that some individuals will seek opportunities to take advantage of their fans. We will continue to take whatever action we think is necessary to protect the entertainment value created by professional Counter-Strike, including, on occasion, terminating our relationship with individuals who have demonstrated a willingness to exploit their fans’ faith in the integrity of the sport.”
Another team, named Epsilon, also received the life ban for match fixing as well. Valve confirmed this shortly after the iBuyPower situation was resolved. These bans only apply to Valve-sponsored events, so these teams will be able to go elsewhere to do the same thing. But hopefully, they learned their lesson and will refrain from future match-fixing.
But with this comes controversy of one player that has yet to be banned. A DOTA player, named Alexei “Solo” Berezin, is called the “originator of a similar rule in DOTA 2.” Fans want Berezin to have the same ruling that iBuyPower got in their situation. Yet, Berezin is able to attend Valve events…for now.
There are other fans who feel a permanent ban from Valve events is too harsh on those who are involved in match-fixing. They feel that one or two years is more fitting to the crime than a life ban. Especially since some of these players could potentially help the North American team against EU teams, who have shown that they are superior in recent events.
But Valve doesn’t see eye-to-eye with those fans, as they stand by their decision to ban iBuyPower for life. Valve believes that this is done for the greater good of the gaming world.
“While bans can be disruptive and painful to some members of the community, they are sometimes necessary,” Valve wrote. “We sincerely hope that we won’t have to issue more in the future.”
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