Korea's StarCraft e-sports gets interesting in West, hit with scandal

Gamers in Korea, as well as big businesses, take StarCraft competitive multiplayer very seriously because it’s worth huge money to many.

As with all sports, even e-sports, cheating lurks in the shadows. A number of players, coaches and other officials are accused of rigging.

Match set-ups and illegal betting are at the center of this scandal for the e-sports of StarCraft in Korea. Clan Team Liquid who has a long relationship with StarCraft posted the news informing us Westerners of the dirty goings on.

Players and coaches all under suspicion for the scandal have not been named. However one leading gamer, former BlizzCon champion sAviOr (Ja Mae Yoon) is one believed to have been up to no good. The operation began in 2006 and peaked in ‘08.

sAviOr had notable ‘bad luck’ in the 2007 and 2008 seasons. Those retired from the e-sports scene are said to have made the contacts between professional teams and illegal betting sites. In South Korea the whole events are televised with competitors achieving fame, sponsorships and large piles of prize money.

StarCraft II releases soon to the world and Blizzard are hopeful the Korean league will begin to migrate over to the sequel. Before that happens it looks like some ‘spring cleaning’ needs to kick off first, booting out the dirty cheaters.

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Source: Kotaku