The Esports Integrity Commission (ESIC), formerly the Esports Integrity Coalition, is a non-profit members' association established in 2016 to promote and facilitate competitive integrity in

esports Esports, short for electronic sports, is a form of competition using video games. Esports often takes the form of organized, multiplayer video game competitions, particularly between professional players, individually or as teams. Although orga ...

History

The organization was founded by Ian Smith as the "Esports Integrity Coalition" in 2016 before rebranding in 2019. Smith had been an attorney working in sports regulation law before he was brought into the ''Global Offensive'' scene to investigate

skin gambling In video games, skin gambling is the use of virtual goods, often cosmetic in-game items such as "Skin (computing)#Video gaming, skins", as virtual currency to bet on the outcome of eSports, professional matches or on other games of chance. It is ...

. His recognition of the lack of regulatory bodies in the scene led to the founding of ESIC.

Services

The commission works to investigate and prevent all forms of

match fixing In organized sports, match fixing is the act of playing or officiating a match with the intention of achieving a pre-determined result, violating the rules of the game and often the law. There are many reasons why match fixing might take place, ...

, cheating, and use of doping, most recently investigating the coaching bug in '' Counter-Strike: Global Offensive''. The commission only employs five full-time workers and works by partnering with several betting websites and tournament organizers. The results of investigations are passed on to the organizers, who enforce the sanctions recommended by ESIC.

Criticism

Although ESIC received plaudits for the CS:GO coaching bug investigation, the organization has also been criticized for a perceived lack of expertise about the games it regulates. According to ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'', unnamed critics have described the organization as "underfunded". ESIC doing its work mostly hidden from the public has also caused "public speculation o curdleinto skepticism". ESIC was criticized in December 2022 by the CS:GO community when it lifted Nicolai "HUNDEN" Petersen's two-year ban early after a "constructive engagement between the two parties". HUNDEN was banned by ESIC in August 2021 after he leaked the strategy folder of Heroic, the team he was coaching, to other teams during IEM Cologne 2021.

References

Esports organizations Cheating in esports {{esports-organization-stub