Korean police have provided details about the StarCraft esports match-fixing scandal.
In January, Lee “Life” Seung Hyun, 19, the 2014 world champion and 2015 runner-up, was arrested by authorities on suspicion of throwing matches to benefit a betting syndicate, according to a report in Casino.org news.
Seung Hyun has been indicted with another top player, Bung “Bbyong” Woo Yong, 23, and eight others, including financial backers and brokers. Seung Hyun is accused of throwing two matches during the KeSPA Cup, for which he received $60,000 from the gambling ring. Woo Yong has been charged with throwing one match, in January, for around $26,000, according to the report.
According to a report from prosecutors, the two players were approached by brokers who initially pretended to be fans and who persuaded them to throw the matches.
“The crimes were perpetrated with clear division of roles: Financial backers to put up the compensation for match-fixing, brokers to solicit the match-fixing and transfer the funds, and an employee in charge of receiving gambling funds and placing bets on gambling sites,” said the report.
The ring placed multiple bets on the fixed games on multiple online gambling sites with the largest individual bet at $87,000.
The Casino.org report noted that low prize money in the games makes eSports vulnerable to match fixing.
“There may not be enough money to go around StarCraft to create a financial incentive to resist gambling rings. But right now, it feels like StarCraft is drowning in gambling money, and the compensation for all but the winning players is so poor that a broker’s offer could look like a very attractive way of mitigating risk,” esports journalist Rob Zacny told the website.
