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Leagues and Governing Bodies

Game Publishers, Tournament Organizers Struggle With E-Sports Cheating Online

Video game companies pushing online competitions are "grappling with the digital equivalent" of PEDs as players looking for an edge are "using unapproved software and exploiting bugs ... derailing honest gamers vying for prominence, social-media fame and, in some cases, prize money," according to Sarah Needleman of the WALL STREET JOURNAL. The cheating "pushes conscientious players to quit, which can hurt sales and discourage people from embracing e-sports just as it begins to win mainstream acceptance." To fight back, companies are "banning players by the tens of thousands, hiring spies to uncover illicit code and spending more on software designed to prevent or identify cheating." Activision Blizzard, e-sports contest organizer ESL and other companies said that they "spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on such software, and more for personnel to investigate complaints." They also said that those costs are "expected to rise." ESL Managing Dir Marcel Menge said that while cheating has been "rare among the professional ranks of computer gamers, some of whom compete for million-dollar pots, it has been more common at the amateur level." Investment bank Benchmark Research analyst Mike Hickey said that widespread cheating at the casual or amateur level "could dampen the likelihood that players will aspire to go pro and hurt the perception of the e-sports industry overall" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 3/23).

ONLY IN VEGAS: ESPN.com's Arash Markazi wrote under the header, "Esports Finds A Home In Vegas In The Most Vegas Way." The first permanent e-sports arena in Las Vegas, and one of the few in the country, is "on the top floor of the 300,000-square foot, three-story Neonopolis in downtown Las Vegas." It is "quintessential Las Vegas," and Millennial Esports CEO Alex Igelman is "hoping that esports and his new esports arena, called thE Arena, will soon be as much a part of the Las Vegas experience as the neon lights and casinos that line the city's streets." The 15,000-square-foot arena "hosted its first event -- the Halo World Championship Qualifiers -- earlier this month and is in negotiations to host several other major tournaments this year, such as the first EA Sports-sanctioned Madden NFL tournament on the West Coast on March 25-26" (ESPN.com, 3/23).

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