ESIC Provides Update on CS:GO Spectator Bug Investigation

The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC) has provided an update on its ongoing CS:GO spectator bug investigation. The investigation uncovered 96 cases of the bug being deliberately triggered in a competitive environment, resulting in the implication of 37 coaches.

On September 4, ESIC launched an investigation to assess the use of in-game exploitation in professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive matches. ESIC has reviewed approximately 20% of the 99,650 game demos provided by ESEA and HLTV dating back to 2016.

The issued sanctions will prevent affected coaches from joining official match game servers, communicating with the players 15 minutes before and after a match, and participating in the map veto process. Penalties will be enforced across all ESIC member organisations, including ESL, DreamHack, WePlay! Esports, BLAST, NODWIN Gaming, LVP and Eden Esports.

ESIC commented on the investigation update in a statement: “We understand that these revelations have been tough for many people within the CS:GO community, but we believe it is in the long term best interests of the game and all of esports for integrity breaches to be dealt with head on. We know that most coaches, players, tournament organisers, publishers and developers, fans, sponsors and broadcasters want CS:GO and esports to be clean and a fair competition between players and teams doing their very best to win. We see our job as being to ensure that that happens and that corrupt and bad actors are rehabilitated or removed.”