11 People Arrested Following Korean eSport Scandal

Now here’s how you know eSports are becoming legit--people are actually getting arrested for cheating in them.

Here’s the skinny: in Korea, eleven people, including Park Wae-Sik, head coach of the pro team Prime, and Choi “YoDa” Byung Hyun, a member Prime, have been arrested following reports that they have been intentionally fixing games of Professional StarCraft II. Specifically, a report indicates at least five matches last year were thrown or fixed in some other way, leading to some people (who were illegally gambling on the matches) to make big bank. The players who threw earned between $4000-$17,000, the illegal brokers earned $35,000, while the gamblers earned a hefty $26,000… per match.

Clearly I’m in the wrong occupation.

Of course, in the end, crime doesn’t pay. Of the eleven captured, there will be a plethora of consequences--not just fines and lifetime bans, but even further legal action as the Korean eSports Association demands recompense for the damage this scandal has put on their good name.

Pretty crazy, right? Of course, eSports are bigger in Korea than they are here in the States, StarCraft 2 especially, where matches are broadcast in prime-time television slots. Not big enough, of course, for the players to get away with things like serial rape--but we’re getting there. Watch out, NFL.