PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds ushered in the era of the battle royale genre, so it should be no surprise that it’s the third highest grossing game on Steam. The online multiplayer game also has several tournaments that frequently occur, as PUBG Corporation wants to make the game a popular eSport. However, the eSports scene is not without controversy, as OpTic Gaming was stripped of its second-place finish in a recent tournament after officials ruled one of its players abused a glitch.
For those unaware of OpTic Gaming, it’s a professional American eSports organization that has teams in Call of Duty, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Gears of War, League of Legends, Dota 2, Overwatch, and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds. The player in question, Ian “Bahawaka” Crowe, suggests that it was an accident, but nevertheless, it cost the team $12,000 in prize money.
The glitch occurred during game eight of the PUBG Invitational at IEM Katowice when Crowe moved into a specific position by holstering his weapon and making the wall transparent. Team Liquid player Scoom also chimed in, saying it was “hard to do accidentally.” Whether or not it was intentional, there's no denying this is a potentially advantageous glitch like the one in the main game that makes players immune to circle damage.
[HTML1]
Disciplinary action against players is a common occurrence, as the Overwatch League has recently handed out several fines over behavior on social media. Crowe's situation is a little different, however, and he defended himself by saying he was moving that way due to noise quality issues from his headphones. He also said, “I hopped in the corner to get as close as physically possible to their car rotation to track its movement. If you watched the match live or are familiar with the terrain, there’s no benefit to having vision of that hill during that scenario.”
While it’s unfortunate for OpTic Gaming, IEM cited the rule that states, “Intentionally changing your character’s angle to look through a texture or object is prohibited” in its decision, which caused the team to drop from second to fifth. Although the glitch is well-known, some may think this ruling was too harsh considering Crowe didn’t really gain any advantage. What do you think, Ranters?
PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds is available now for PC and Xbox One.
Source: Kotaku