Three Counter-Strike Coaches Banned for Exploiting Major Spectating Bug

It’s not that unusual to hear about eSport players getting caught cheating, although as anti-cheat measures grow more powerful in parallel with the growing popularity of esports, it has become less and less common in recent years. However, it appears the latest scandal to hit the esports world actually has nothing to do with players themselves: rather, it appears Coaches have been caught exploiting a bug to give their players a winning edge over the competition. At least, in Counter-Strike.

The bug itself was quite a big deal. Coaches have the ability to spectate live games and control their own unique camera, so they’re able to better monitor their players, make comments, and coordinate a winning strategy. However, this bug allowed them to freely move their camera around, which meant they could actually spy on the enemy team’s movements — which would give an impossible edge to their own team.

The guilty party in question were the coaches for teams MIBR, Heroic, and Hard Legion, who got a 6, 12, and 24 ban, respectively, for the exploit. But that’s not all — since their teams undoubtedly benefited from this exploit, the players themselves are getting a form of punishment as well. All three teams have been disqualified from their current tournaments, and have been forced to return their prize money, which totals to about 11k.

It’s worth noting that other coaches apparently encountered this bug, but didn’t abuse it. Which might be why some coaches got worse bans than others — some coaches might have gathered more information than others, which lead to extended ban times.

So with all the coaches out of the job — and unlikely to be rehired in the future regardless of their ban periods — I hope you all remember that cheaters never prosper. Unless they don’t get caught. Or you’re a CEO. Or the president of the United States.

Actually, cheaters prosper all the time. So… nevermind.