Following accusations of cheating at the League of Legends world championship semi-finals and an investigation by Riot Games, official warnings have been issued to four players with a $30,000 fine levied against team Azubu Frost.
Riot Games' VP of eSports posted the rulings to the League of Legends forums earlier today, writing that the developer evaluated allegations of cheating on "intent, severity and tangible impact to the course of the game" before handing out judgment. Players were accused of looking at the mini-maps of opponents on a large screen meant for the audience, potentially giving them a competitive advantage.
"Based on our investigation, the Azubu Frost incident is the only one where we determined there to be tangible impact," writes Redbeard. "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."
The $30,000 fine against Azubu Frost is for unsportsmanlike conduct. Riot says the proceeds from that penalty will go to its charity program in Korea.
Riot's other warnings, handed out to members of Team WE, Invictus Gaming (iG), Team SoloMid (TSM), and Taipei Assassins (TPA), were for unsportsmanlike conduct.
"We take this stuff seriously," Riot said in its ruling. "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 recognize that and have taken steps to ensure it doesn't happen in the future."
The full rulings can be read at the League of Legends community forum.
Playoffs in the League of Legends world championship series resumed today. The finals are scheduled for Saturday, October 13th at the Galen Center Arena at USC.