ESIC finishes CSGO coaching bug investigation, verdict coming soon

M Alzamora Published 24/09/2020

The Esports Integrity Commission is set to release the results of its investigation into Counter-Strike: Global Offensive’s coaching exploit, but there’s a “but.”

After the reveal that several professional CSGO coaches used an exploit to gain an unfair advantage in professional games going as far back as 2015, the Commission will release its findings on Monday, September 28, according to a tweet from the organization’s official Twitter account.

ESIC is expecting to issue its first set of substantial findings related to the CS:GO Spectator Bug on Monday 28 September at 10:00am CET. pic.twitter.com/d1KVADgwFQ
— ESIC (@ESIC_Official) September 24, 2020

The news of the longstanding exploit rocked the CSGO world as more than 10 professional coaches were implicated in its use over a wide range of tournaments, most notably two of Valve’s Regional Ranking tournaments used to determine placements at the upcoming ESL Major.

Steve Dudenhoeffer, one of the independent referees that helped initially investigate the bug, said that he and fellow referee Michael Slowinski had found cases coaches using the exploit that dated back to 2015.

We still are not finished, but so far we’ve got confirmed cases of coach bug abuse going back to Q3 2015.

This means there has been five years of potential abuse, all because nobody wanted to publicly report it.
— Steve Dudenhoeffer (@steveduden) September 16, 2020

The revelation that the exploit, which essentially allowed coaches to move their field of view in the middle of rounds, shocked the community and caused many coaches to come forward and admit that they had used the exploit at one point or another over the years. The ESIC has said that Monday’s announcement is only the first set of announcements, but even that comes with a big “but.” In a follow-up tweet, the ESIC said that their report would hinge on any potential conflicts between the ESIC and its stakeholders.

(Note: this is subject to any complications that may arise in our consultation with various stakeholders).
— ESIC (@ESIC_Official) September 24, 2020

These stakeholders include ESL, BLAST, and DreamHack, and it is unclear what complications should arise, and whether or not this will affect the ESIC’s final reporting or the date at which it is reported. Regardless, fans should have more information surrounding the punishments for CSGO coaches and teams by Monday.

Want to see the full list of teams and coaches implicated in the exploit? Click here.

M Alzamora

About M Alzamora

There are few things that writer M Alzamora loves more in life than Pokemon. And there are even fewer things that she loves more than her favorite Pokemon, Eevee. But M’s appreciation for gaming isn’t just limited to Nintendo’s famous pocket monsters. She’s interested in every type of game across every genre of gaming, and she has the credentials to prove it. M’s work has also been seen on Working Classicists and gaming sites.

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