Riot fines League of Legends cheaters $30,000

Riot Games has come to a decision concerning cheating allegations on day three of the League of Legends World Playoffs, following an extensive investigation.

Writing on the League of Legends forums, Riot vice president of eSports Dustin Beck outlined that Korean team Azubu Frost (AzF) has been found guilty of unsportsmanlike conduct, and will be fined $30,000, a figure representing 20 percent of the team's current tournament winnings.

The fine will be donated to Riot Games' charity in Korea.

Three other teams were issued warnings for unsportsmanlike conduct, and one other team was cleared of any misconduct.

During the investigation, Riot found that AzF Woong had violated the rules by looking at the stage screens displaying the opposing team's minimap during game 1 of quarterfinal number 3, and that his actions yielded benefits for his team in the game. According to Riot's investigation, other members of AzF modified their gameplay based upon the information obtained by AzF Woong.

Riot re-examined photos, videos, and renders of the stage layout to better understand sight lines between the players and the maps placed overhead before coming to a final decision.

"We evaluated these cases based on intent, severity and tangible impact to the course of the game," Beck said. "Based on our investigation, the Azubu Frost incident is the only one where we determined there to be tangible impact; we believe other members of AzF modified their gameplay based upon the information gained. We don’t believe, however, that these actions decided the winner of the game.

"We take this stuff seriously. Our rules on sportsmanlike conduct are clearly communicated to competitors, and our decisions here are based on those rules. More importantly, this sort of behavior shouldn't have been possible in the first place, and we recognise that and have taken steps to ensure it doesn't happen in the future."