ESIC received two appeal requests on 5 July from esports players Alessandro “Apoka” Marcucci and Nicholas “Guerri” Nogueira. Apoka and Guerri were among the 37 coaches who received suspensions as a result of the spectator bug investigation in CS:GO that began in September 2020.
The investigation revealed three variations of the spectator bug: static, third-person, and free roam. These bugs allowed players and coaches to view parts of the game map that they were not supposed to see, to different extents. Each offender received a certain number of ESIC demerits as punishment based on the number of times they exploited the spectator bug.
Valve, the game publisher and non-ESIC member, implemented its own sanctions, determining the number of major events that players and coaches could miss based on the demerits received. However, the appeals from the affected individuals argued that these Valve sanctions had compounded the punishments already imposed by ESIC.
Despite being made outside the appeal window, ESIC acknowledged the appeals and highlighted that the additional Valve sanctions had deviated from the intended effect of the ESIC sanctions. ESIC stated that the original sanctions were no longer proportionate and within the scope of their intended outcome when they were issued.
In response to the appeals, ESIC has revised its calculation of demerits. While ESIC communicated this change to Valve, the publisher is not obligated to adhere to it. Valve’s initial response indicated a lack of receptiveness to adjusting their sanctions according to the recalculation.
ESIC has requested that Valve reconsider their stance. In May of this year, ESIC also issued 97 additional charges to players after discovering further instances of the bug being exploited.
