BLAST teams debunk CSPPA release, say voice comms issue resolved

The Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association released a statement ahead of the first final of BLAST premier fall series after players refused to give BLAST access to voice comms and video screen recordings. However, a joint statement from 14 organizations reveals a conflict between Counter-Strike: Global Offensive teams and CSPPA. 

All the teams that are partnered with BLAST for the Fall season published a joint statement on Twitter in which they confirmed that issues regarding voice comms were resolved days before the finals. The organizer took their concerns into notice and settled the problems on Nov. 23. 

CSPPA is a worldwide association in which most of the decision making is done by the players. The disagreement between the two statements has caused a frenzy in the CSGO community. Fans are confused about who’s CSPPA contesting for if all the teams have resolved their issues with BLAST. 

One of the team owners discussed the operations at CSPPA with HLTV and said that the players’ association is doing nothing but creating a dispute in the community. He also commented on the CSPPA ranking system which was heavily criticized on release. 

“Player breaks, world rankings, etc., are all things that we already evaluate and negotiate together on a running basis, and the existence of CSPPA has not changed that in any way, despite the constant false claims or sensationalism popping up.” The team owner said. 

• CSPPA announces player committee to work on world ranking rules

Voice comms issue in BLAST delayed the matches

Tournament organizer BLAST introduced several new additions to matches in 2020, including recording players’ video screens and voice comms. However, the players refused to let the organizer record their comms in a press release by CSSPA. The turmoil that followed resulted in Vitality and mousesports’ match delaying for almost three hours. 

Players refuse BLAST access to voice comms and video screen recordings without agreement on how information is handled pic.twitter.com/8RoofaQRA1

— Counter-Strike Professional Players’ Association (@CSPPAgg) December 8, 2020

BLAST reported earlier that the recordings will stay in archives for 90 days to deal with stream sniping concerns. However, players were not on the same page as past handling of the data has been inattentive, according to CSSPA.

The issue over voice comms arises from players’ lack of trust in BLAST. The press release entailed that sensitive personal information is not safe in the hands of the organizer. Moreover, stats and comms are being passed around among the analysts and other people involved. The release further mentioned that the professionals will suggest other ways to maintain game integrity that would allow players to play more smoothly as screen recording hinders PC performance. 

CSSPA has also claimed that they tried to communicate with the organizer, but it was no use. As a result, the first match of BLAST premier fall 2020 had multiple delays as players refused to join the TeamSpeak. As a result, the Livestream displayed, “Waiting for players to join TeamSpeak.”

The current situation has already marred the community environment as people are torn between the two sides. It is yet to be seen whether CSPPA will release another statement leading to a vicious cycle, or this joint statement will culminate the drama.