FYI.

This story is over 5 years old.

Tech

The Return of a 'Counter Strike' Cheater Tests the Limits of the eSports Community

Based on new ESL rules, banned player KQLY is allowed to compete again in some tournaments.

Esports want so desperately to be considered a legitimate sport, and thus forgiveness doesn't come easy when one of its most notable figures gets caught cheating. But is the current attitude too harsh?

Consider, for instance, the controversy that flared this week when the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team Vexed Gaming announced it was hiring Hovik "KQLY" Tovmassian, a formerly high-profile player who was banned for cheating way back in 2014. The outcry following the announcement was swift. Two Vexed players, Steve "Jarod" Cohen and Léonard "SmyLi" Michelino, announced they refused to play with a cheater on their team (and apparently Vexed didn't even tell them KQLY was joining until shortly before the announcement). Even KQLY's former teammate Kevin "Ex6TenZ" Droolans sneered at the decision in a tweet, calling it a "genius move."

Advertisement

"Good luck and have fun to find players and sponsors in the future who will want to work with you," Droolans said.

KQLY was caught cheating by VAC (Valve Anti-Cheat) software outside of a competitive context, but even so, the incident cast doubt on his integrity in professional matches. Titan, his CS:GO team at the time, fell apart soon after. KQLY's ban kept him from participating in high-profile Valve-sponsored tournaments, but Vexed took him back on in light of a recent rule change by the ESL esports organization that allows banned players to compete again after enduring two-year suspensions. By that measure, KQLY has served his time. He can't compete in every tournament, but the rule technically allows him to play in the upcoming ESL France tournament.

"Our policies regarding players caught cheating are based on industry best practices in various traditional sports," an ESL representative told me in an email. "Our policy is, and always has been, a two-year ban for players caught cheating. Hovik 'KQLY' Tovmassian has admitted that his VAC ban was justified, and that he used cheating software in the past. He accepted the subsequent ESL punishment (a two-year ban). As two years have passed, the ban has been lifted."

We also asked what the organization thought of the opinion that hard-line punishments are needed to preserve the integrity of eSports.

"Implementing consistently fair punishments for rule violations is an extremely complex task. The industry is continuously growing and our procedures require (and receive) regular reviews. We value and encourage feedback from players, other tournament organizers, and sports integrity experts (such as ESIC) on topics such as whether the existing policies are appropriate and still relevant in today's Counter-Strike eSports ecosystem."

Advertisement

There's some truth to the ESL's assertion that the policy is based on similar bans for cheating in other forms of sports. If anything, the penalties for cheating in eSports are tougher than what you often find elsewhere. Baseball, for instance, usually deals with steroid offenses by issuing 80- or 100-game suspensions in which players remain a part of the team. In one of the most recent high-profile incidents, New York Yankees player Alex Rodriguez was suspended for a whopping 162 games.

This approach isn't without substantial controversy. Last year, for instance, ESPN baseball commentator Dallas Braden likened the existing punishments for using performance-enhancing drugs to "sending players on an 80-game vacation." His proposed solutions sounded much like what you often get in eSports for cheating, such as a voided contract or a cap on the player's earnings. Just last month, ESPN's Sam Miller argued that current punishments for performance enhancing drugs don't really serve as an effective deterrent aside from "the suspension and the embarrassment." For that matter, he argues, players usually perform better after they go clean. The same could end up being true for KQLY.

Vexed's COO, Mark "Princess" Weller, stands by his decision even though he acknowledges his "huge regret" that Vexed's decision cost the team two valuable players. "We chose to allow KQLY to play for us because he's talented and he has great experience in the professional scene," Weller told me over Skype. "He's also previously played Counter Strike: Source with 'NpK,' who is on our roster."

Weller points out that there's already some precedent for this. At the Counter-Strike Summit last month, for instance, he and Vexed saw Braxton "Swag" Pierce competing even though Swag and six other players were permanently banned from Valve events for match fixing in 2015. Counter-Strike Summit isn't a Valve-sponsored event, and so the comparison to KQLY holds some weight. "My opinion is that I do believe in second chances, and I believe and trust that KQLY has served his suspension," he said. "This kind of action is something that is shown in the traditional sports scene—players serve their bans and are welcome back into a professional, competitive environment."

Weller believes the risk Vexed took in hiring KQLY was one that needed to be taken.

"Being the first organization to act upon the new rulings, we were aware of it being a risk, and did expect and understand that people may disagree with our decision," he said. "However, we feel that we have started an important conversation about penalties in eSports and how they're dealt with."