ESIC Investigation Will Look Into Historial Spectation Bug Exploit
The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has launched an investigation into a historical Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) spectator bug and a scandal that goes all the way back to 2016. The ESIC investigation will go through 25,000 hours of CS:GO gameplay in an attempt to uncover the truth after three ESL coaches were recently found guilty of using the spectator bug.
Referees Michael Slowinski and Steve Dudenhoeffer first exposed the exploit and will be brought back to trawl through the latest round of footage. Slowinski and Dudenhoeffer's investigation will take around eight months to complete, meaning there's a "confession period" where those who've used the spectator bug are being asked to come forward. The confessional period will only last for nine days - ending on September 13.
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The ESIC investigation was announced on Twitter, where the organisation explained why it is going back into the archives. There will be an "AI and visual inspection" by the pair, while a fundraiser has already been set up to support them for their tireless work. If new offenders are discovered, their punishments will be announced in a monthly summary. These will be followed by quarterly reports until the investigation is finished and all the footage is reviewed.
Allegations were first made by Mariusz "Loord" Cybulski when the Wisla Krakow coach posted a tweet claiming he'd seen instances where a coach could "fly over the map" and give teammates vital intel that wouldn't be known without the exploit. Wilton "zews" Prado and Luis "peacemaker" Tadeu said they'd seen similar occurrences.
This led to ESL and ESIC banning the likes of Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen, Ricardo "dead" Sinigaglia, and Aleksandr "zoneR" Bogatiryev. Elsewhere, K23 coach Aset "Solaar" Sembiyev has been suspended. In a statement, ESIC said, "After careful consideration of the volumes of material available to ESIC for review, we have reason to believe that exploitation of the Spectator Bug by other parties than those already sanctioned, may have existed historically".
Things don't end there. ESIC is also looking into allegations of match-fixing in the MDL CS:GO League. In general, the ESIC investigation has rocked the professional CS:GO scene and raised questions about the integrity of the entire game. The investigation will encompass some of the biggest competitions out there, "including ESL, DreamHack, BLAST, WePlay, Eden Esports, UMG, UCC, and more".
With the coronavirus pandemic forcing the esports scene online, it looks like some have been making the most of the move and been using the likes of the spectator bug to their advantage. Either way, it looks like this is the tip of a very large iceberg.
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