In recent weeks we have observed some of the best in the world traveling far away from their native homelands to test their skills against others from around the world. Some arrive confident and focused on the matches ahead of them while others seem nervous and tired after the long hours of preparation. The lights, screaming fans, and thousands of dollars in prize money up for grabs can be overwhelming for any inexperienced competitor.

Earlier this month one of the largest and most prestigious events in all of e-sports took place, the World Cyber Games. This was an event that left a majority of the attendees with very mixed feelings about the maturity level of e-sports as a whole. The controversy that occurred in both the Counterstrike and Starcraft tournaments was about enough to make any avid online gamer shake their head in disbelief.

With the World Cyber Games in the back of most of our minds, we could now focus on another major event on a different continent. The International E-sports Festival, held in China, invited some of the best Starcraft players in the world. Several of the invited players would finally have the opportunity to redeem themselves after the World Cyber Games…or so they thought.

The strong play of the Korean representatives was just too much for every other competitor. All three of them were able to each secure their own spot on the podium.

Throwing matches yet again?

In what seems to be the norm at these large events, the professional gamers have yet again been accused of throwing matches. However, this time they would not be throwing matches against the non-Koreans, but their own teammates.

In the final match between Young Soo "HwaSin[S.sIR]" Jin and Yoon Hwan "InteR.Calm" Kim both players exchanged wins and loses until a winner was finally named. Shortly after the tournament ended, the First Person VODs were released. After reviewing these VODs you could see both of the competitors whispering each other in-game.

If you look closely at the text in the chat screen you can decipher a message from Jin stating, “dae choong 2sunken no ring” which is believed to be translated to “2 sunken no zergling”. In another incident Kim states, “center barrack ok me 12 pool?" If you are unfamiliar with Starcraft lingo this is thought to be Kim telling Jin to put his barrack in the center of the map while he builds his spawning pool with his 12th drone. When building a barrack at the center of the map meant to produce marines, you as a Terran player are hoping that your Zerg opponent builds a spawning pool with his 12th drone instead of his 9th. Coincidentally, Kim (Zerg) builds his pool with his 12th drone.

A big misunderstanding?

After reviewing the in-game chat it seems very possible that the final matches in the series were arranged. In response to these accusations, the two parties and their coach have all released statements denying that any type of match fixing took place. These quotes, originally documented by FighterForum have been translated to English by HonestTea of TeamLiquid.

"It was a mind trick, I was saying that even if I play like that I could still win, it was a taunt. I didn't expect it to cause this kind of misunderstanding." Yoon Hwan Kim states.

Young Soo Jin replies with his own response to these accusations.

"I played along with his messages but chat like that happens every game [during practice]. The one thing I didn't want was for the games to go long. So I attacked early with the thought that, if it works great, if not, then Calm wins so great."

Their coach, Eun Dong Kim was also given the opportunity to make his thoughts public on this matter.

"Why would we fix a match when it doesn't matter who wins? I don't know where this controversy came from. What happened was two teammates with little experience playing in overseas tournaments were playing light-heartedly."

Perhaps they are all telling the truth and this has been all blown out of proportion. It is possible that the private messaging in-game might have been nothing more than casual chat between two friends and practice partners. These two teenagers who flew in from overseas and were able to take a tournament by storm deserve a hefty congratulations.

OR...

Have the egos of the professionals gotten this big? Is it not an honor to represent your country overseas? Can an event involving Starcraft outside of South Korea ever be taken seriously? If both of these players did purposely fix their games in the finals, they succeeded in making a mockery of a tournament meant to bring some of the best in Starcraft to one location for healthy competition. They have disrespected all of the fans in China that came out to see them play, the tournament organizers, competitors, and sponsors, who made this event, happen.