After a variety of news reports detailing the murky side of Counter Strike: Global Offensive's darker side of E-Sports, Valve have waded into the fray and provided a stern warning to the community: don't gamble. After several PR disasters involving match-fixing, recent news saw several high-profile players profited from a recent Cevo Season 5 match between teams NetCodeGuides and iBUYPOWER. Just prior to iBUYPOWER's match, large amounts of unusual bets were placed and for a match they were supposed to have won, they lost and in the process, more than $10,000 was earnt from in-game item sales and rewards. 

Unsurprisingly and in an effort to salvage CS:GO's reputation, Valve have stepped in. 

Unnecessary Risks

We frequently sponsor third-party events to add to their entertainment value for viewers and broaden the audience for competitive CS:GO.

 

To be eligible to participate in a Valve-sponsored event, players are required to follow the rules provided by that event’s organizers.

 

In addition to that organizer’s rules, we expect that players who plan to participate in any future Valve-sponsored event will hold themselves to a high standard of professional integrity.

 

Professional players, teams, and anyone involved in the production of CS:GO events, should under no circumstances gamble on CS:GO matches, associate with high volume CS:GO gamblers, or deliver information to others that might influence their CS:GO bets.

 

To clarify – as a professional player, team manager or event production staff, it is common to have personal relationships and/or privileged information about other teams and players. Because of this, we will always assume that you have access to private CS:GO-related “inside information” that might give you an unfair advantage when placing a bet on any CS:GO game or match.

 

Betting using inside information, or even the perception or suspicion thereof, carries a significant risk of damaging your personal brand, your team, your community, and may lead to exclusion from future Valve-sponsored events.

 

To avoid these risks, we recommend that you never bet on any CS:GO game or match. This recommendation applies both to current professional players and anyone who wishes to participate in a Valve-sponsored CS:GO event in the future.

 

It’s important to consider the substantial impact an individual professional Counter-Strike player has on the health and stability of the sport. Performing before an audience of millions of fans, you are ambassadors for your game – the strength of professional Counter-Strike comes from the integrity of its players and teams.

For any CS:GO players wishing to play in the future, Valve have pretty much suggested that you don't gamble. It sounds pretty obvious but as a pessimistic fellow, as soon as there's any opportunity to earn money in a sport of any kind, people can be corrupted. What always amazes me when this sort of thing is discovered is the fact that those doing it are so absolutely terrible at hiding it. These people haven't been smart about gambling and they've been stupid enough to tell numerous people. Sadly, there's also the very real possibility that these individuals are just a very small part of the problem and it's those that aren't being cought that are making serious money. 

Will CS:GO and the E-Sport's community recover from Valve stepping in? Very unlikely. Until there's lifetime bans and legal consequences, it'll continue for a long time yet.