Overwatch Has a Match Fixing Scandal in Korea

Overwatch is quickly becoming one of the most popular games in eSports, and like all popular Esports games, the controversy was bound to show up sometime. eSports is a huge business, and because of that, and the fact it's a highly competitive sport, certain teams have been known to fix games. It's a huge issue in the Esports community and recently, Overwatch has seen possibly its very first match-fixing scandal out of Korea. 

Via Engadget, police have charged the player-manager and coach of South Korea's eSports team, Luminous Solar. Jin Seok-hoon and Baek Min-jeh are both being charged with attempting to fix a qualifying match in the second season of the APEX Overwatch league. Even before being officially charged by the Gyeonggi Bukba Provincial Police Agency Cyber Bureau (I think an acronym is needed for these guys, or perhaps a shorter, more compact name), a Korean eSports cable channel had already banned the player-manager and coach for offering sponsorship to a rival team in exchange for throwing a match.

Korean eSports players make their living from the prize money for winning tournaments and match fixing has become a huge problem for their livelihood. Millions of dollars in prize money is awarded to championship teams across various competitive games, and because of the potential profit, many coaches have been involved in match-fixing scandals. Overwatch is very much a new game in the eSports scene, and though it's not as profitable as more popular competitive games, it's still not safe from the plague of match fixing. eSports is much bigger in South Korea than it is in the west, and many players make a living from both legally and illegally winning tournaments. It's a huge issue that's almost impossible to stop ahead of time, and sadly, it doesn't look like any game is safe.