CIS teams are calling on Valve and ESIC to investigate Akuma

15 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams from the CIS region have signed an open letter requesting Valve to investigate Akuma’s surprise performance at EPIC CIS League Spring.

The move comes after an unprecedented third-place run by the team, which elevated it all the way to #19 on HLTV’s global CSGO rankings. EPIC League CIS lacked several security measures, including third-party anticheat, team communications recording, and POV replays. This has brought Akuma’s shocking results into question. The letter also demands that these measures become the standard for future Regional Major Rankings events.

All of the teams that competed in EPIC CIS League, with the exception of Akuma, signed the letter. Signatories include Natus Vincere, Gambit, Virtus.pro, Team Spirit, K23, forZe, and Entropiq. 

The Russian Esports Federation, which partnered with Epic Esports Entertainment to run EPIC League, concluded its own investigation on May 30. The RESF claimed to have found no evidence of foul play. The 15 teams request that the Esports Integrity Commission be involved in the investigation. The ESIC is most famous for unveiling the coach bug scandal of 2020, which led to temporary bans for 37 CSGO coaches.

Akuma’s CSGO team consists of the following players:

• Alexandr “Psycho” Zlobin
• Sergey “Sergiz” Atamanchuk
• Dmitriy “SENSEi” Shvorak
• Evgeniy “j3kie” Sergachev
• Sergiy “DemQQ” Demchenko

All five stand accused of several forms of cheating, though the letter specifically pointed out radar hacks as the likely culprit. 

“…we suspect that the AKUMA team/players received live data from third parties on external devices in order to gain the unfair advantage of seeing opponents’ positions on the map at all times,” the letter said.

The letter also outlined requested security measures for future RMR events.

• Data providers can only sell data with a 20-30 second delay
• TeamSpeak communications must be recorded by all teams for every game
• GOTV must have a 120-second delay
• In addition to a camera in front of the player, there should be an extra camera capturing the whole setup of the player
• Additional anti-cheat on top of VAC

Neither the ESIC nor Valve have publicly commented to the letter. If any investigation is to follow, it will probably come shortly.