High-profile scandals related to match-fixing continue to unfold in the esports world. This time, it became known about the organization of tournaments where all results had to be agreed upon in advance, and the participants might not even be real players. The customer was ready to pay up to $480,000 per year for such activities, which opens the curtain on the dark market of fake matches in CS2.

How does fake esports work?

Until recently, viewers and experts doubted the existence of such large-scale corruption schemes. However, as the situation has shown, 322 leagues (i.e., fake tournaments) are organized systematically, and the only thing that matters to them is to be recognized on Liquipedia to look “legitimate.” Other resources usually do not participate in such events, as they require confirmation of the fairness of the competition.

The proposal that was received was to create a regular league with 24 seasons per year, where all teams would be fully controlled by the customers. That is, anyone could play instead of real players, and all matches would have a pre-fixed outcome. For this purpose, the 322-mafia was ready to pay from $10,000 to $20,000 per season, which could reach $480,000 in annual equivalent.

The 322 tournament market and its dangers

This is just another confirmation that match-fixing has become a big business, where not only players but also organizers make money. There have already been cases when Ukrainian companies participated in such tournaments, but this is the first time we were directly offered to become part of the scheme.

Obviously, such leagues are organized for the sole purpose of making money on bets. Betting sites that host such matches are either unaware of their fake nature or turn a blind eye for the sake of profit.

If you see a tournament on Liquipedia, but it does not appear on other resources, it may be a clear sign of a fraudulent event. The prize pools in such tournaments often exceed $5,000-10,000, although their real revenues are measured in much larger amounts due to the manipulation of bets.

w0nderful and shady affairs of MAJESTY

This story with 322 tournaments resonates with the scandal around the Ukrainian player w0nderful. A former player of his MAJESTY team accused him of participating in match-fixing and working with ESIC, which may have saved him from a ban. While other MAJESTY players received two-year bans, w0nderful went unpunished, which raised many questions from the community.

You can find out more at this link!

The fact that match-fixing organizers are willing to pay such large sums of money to legalize their schemes once again emphasizes the scale of the problem. The esports community should be especially cautious of events that look suspicious, as the 322-mafia is only expanding its horizons.