Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Rio Major cancelled, and Valve addresses cheating coaches
"We’re not going to ask players and fans to risk their health in order to attend a Major while the pandemic still poses a threat to travelers"
The coronavirus pandemic has shut down yet another gaming event. This time it's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive's Rio Major, and Valve say they won't be scheduling any more of the tournaments until LAN events are safe to hold around the world again.
Valve have also addressed coaches being able to cheat in competitive games for years using a bug, detailing the action they'll be taking against these cheaty cheaters.
"We're not going to ask players and fans to risk their health in order to attend a Major while the pandemic still poses a threat to travellers. Therefore, we have made the painful decision to cancel the November Major," Valve say.
You'll still be able to get your fill of competitive CS:GO matches, however, because Valve mention that they'll be holding Regional Major Ranking (RMR) events online "to keep track of the best teams in each region".
Something else Valve will now be keeping track of are coaches who used the aforementioned bug to cheat in competitive matches. It allowed them to detach their camera view from their team and roam around to get info they shouldn't be able to have.
"Any teams that were disqualified for exploiting this bug during an RMR event will have their RMR points reset," Valve say.
"As for taking action against individual coaches, we're going to wait until we get a complete picture of the extent of the bug abuse and the punishments handed down by third parties. Regardless of those penalties, mid-match coaching will always be a tempting opportunity for some teams to violate the integrity of the match. So we may also consider limitations to coaching."
It'll be interesting to see how this will affect matches whenever the Rio Major takes place. If you've already bought a ticket to the event, the ESL say it will still be valid for whenever the tournament is rearranged to. You can get a refund, though, if you'd like, which you'll need to request through Eventbrite. More details on how to do that are over on their website.