Starcraft 2 players arrested for match fixing, permanently banned

Twelve Starcraft 2 players have been found guilty of match fixing in the Korean professional scene, resulting in arrests and permanent bans from the game. The Korean eSports Association has named two of the players as Gerrard and YoDa, who face extra legal action, several people linked to organized crime have also been caught up in the scandal.

The professional Starcraft 2 scene has been huge in Korea over the years, though things have been dipping. This all comes ahead of the release of the game's next expansion as well.

The investigation revealed that five matches were fixed in total, taking place between January and June this year. Gerrard, a coach for Team Prime has been accused of linking up players with brokers, which paid players to lose matches on purpose in order to profit.

One player known as BBoongBBoong was paid just four and a half thousand US dollars to throw a match, while other players, like YoDa, were paid upwards of $30,000 to lose. As the middle man, Gerrard was also receiving a cut from all of the profits gained from match fixing. This isn't the first time this has popped up either, nor is this the only game to have its professional scene called in to question. Counter-Stike:GO has had issues with match fixers in the past.

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KitGuru Says: This is pretty bad news for the Starcraft 2 scene, particularly since interest in professional level SC2 tournaments has dwindled, though Legacy of the Void could potentially bring that back.

Via: Team Liquid

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