Photo: Riot Games
Guild Esports had created a surprise by eliminating G2 Esports, the all-powerful European team, in the first qualifier for First Strike Europe. New to the Valorant scene, David Beckham's organization secured a prestigious 13-10 victory.
Unfortunately, it was too good to be true. Following an investigation, Riot Games found out that Guild Esports players exploited a bug during the game. Caught red-handed, the Swedish players were were sanctioned.
Light punishment for light cheating?
Cheaters have no place in esports and Riot Games is waging an ongoing war against those who undermine Valorant's competitive integrity. The company is taking a hard line against those who fall through the cracks of its Vanguard anti-cheating system. Globally effective, it cannot verify everything, especially when the human dimension is involved (such as match-fixing).
The case of Guild Esports is a bit different. It can qualified as "light cheating" because its players exploited an in-game bug. Since the release of the game, the community has spotted many glitches — wallhack, teleportation off the map, placing the Spike outside the site area...
Fortunately, with its hotfix and patches, Riot Games quickly fixes the problems. However, the bug allowing to build Sage's wall on a Killjoy turret has not had time to be fixed for the match between G2 and Guild Esports. The Swedish players took advantage during the game of this illegitimate boost.
The match was probably not played on this action, but this is contrary to the competitive rules (rule 7.2.6) of Valorant. Therefore, the result was reversed: G2 Esports is still in the competition.
Guild Esports explained that it wasn't aware that it was a bug. On the networks, its players thought they had found an innovative tactic. It's hard to judge its good or bad faith, but in any case, it accepts the decision and makes amends.
Riot Games seems rather convinced by the explanations of Guild Esports, since there were no additional sanctions. The team didn't receive any fine and will be allowed to try again in First Strike Europe Second Qualifier.
Original content by Tipsalewo.
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