Riot Games Hits Accused League Of Legends Cheater With Massive Fine

To many gamers, cheating takes the fun out of gaming, but let it be known that if you cheat during the League of Legends World Playoffs, you stand to lose much more than just a sense of fun. The World Playoffs have been going on for a few days now, and players have been quick to level accusations of cheating at others. The accusations center around players who looked at the audience monitors during a match, which could potentially give them an unfair advantage over the opposing team.

Specifically speaking, these monitors give the audience a look at mini maps without the fog of war. By glancing at them, players can see where members on the other team are, which would allow them adjust their strategy accordingly. There have been a lot of different allegations of cheating in this way, but in all cases but one, Riot has let the accused players and teams off with a warning.

That's because, after reviewing video of the matches in question, Riot determined that glancing at the audience monitors didn't result in a clear advantage for the guilty players. In one instance, however, looking up at the monitors did. Riot says that player Woong of team Azubu Frost gained an advantage for him and his team by looking at the monitors, and as a result, has imposed a $30,000 fine on Woong.

Woong won't have to pay out of pocket, naturally – that $30,000 is his cut of team Azubu Frost's winnings for making it to the semi-final round. There's a detailed move-by-move breakdown of the match on Riot's forums, so it looks like the company has thoroughly researched the match to determine if Woong and his team gained an advantage from glancing up at the screen. Hopefully this is the last time we hear about cheating at the League of Legends World Playoffs, and with a $30,000 being imposed on one player, you can bet that others will think twice before looking at those monitors to gain an advantage.