Match-fixing in China DPC? Professional Dota 2 has its fair share of controversies. Allegations of hack usage and match-fixing are prevalent despite efforts from organizers. With the continued success of betting, people stand to gain so much from seeing upset matches.
The odds of these games favor bettors on the losing side. What happens when people manipulate things behind the scenes—a guaranteed jackpot for bettors?
This is when professional Dota caster Vitalii “v1lat” Volochai posted a new case of match-fixing. According to him, it was during the series between Knights and EHOME in the China Div 1 league. However, v1lat also claims that the organization Dawn Gaming “are one of the most corrupt teams in the world.”
In this tour alone, Knights have been accused of using maphacks by several parties. Maphacking makes use of a third-party program to remove the fog of war from the map, among others. China DPC Organizer Perfect World already conducted an investigation and forwarded relevant replays to Valve. Fans humored how the Knights are goading organizers and fans by being in two controversies in a short period.
Perfect World Esports
What made v1lat make these claims is the suspicious amount of money. In game 2 of Knights vs EHOME, in the tweet, v1lat says that the money placed on EHOME’s win is “unnormal.”
Betting for Dota games involved bets placed on first blood time, kill count, and towers destroyed, among other stats. The bets get more lucrative as better teams fight against weaker teams, as the odds grow higher.
Fans conclude that the Knights are guilty of both the hacks and of match-fixing, but these claims are anecdotal. The community petitioned Perfect World to crack down and investigate further these allegations.
While this investigation is ongoing and a verdict is yet to be reached, Knight is qualified for the Winter Major. Should these claims be true, this could impact the competitive integrity of Chinese Dota at the highest level.
Even more, Valve gave bans to players guilty of match-fixing and hacking in the past. Notable banned players from the Chinese region also include Xu “Moogy” Han and TI2 Champion Zeng “Faith” Hongda. They, alongside fellow Newbee members, were banned on January 1, 2021, for match-fixing.
