Twitch streamer Brian “Kephrii” St. Pierre was banned from the 100k CSGo tournament. Twitch produced the ReadyUP CSGO Invitational in collaboration with Sony's INZONE gaming gear. The competition had a $100,000 main prize pool as well as numerous awards for players to obtain by competing against other teams. Although the rules were not totally clear, the competition incorporated a point system in which players and teams may win by accumulating the most points.
What are the rules for the ReadyUP 100k CSGO tournament?
Because the point system for this competition is centered on individual skill rather than team wins, individual players with high scores are vying for the grand prize. The tournament's entire purpose was to reward individual performance rather than team play. The ultimate prize is granted to the players who have the most points based on the scoring system. Kills receive one point, assists earn two points, while knife kills earn players five points.
What was the incident that led to Brian “Kephrii” St. Pierre being banned?
Brian "Kephrii" St. Pierre, a popular Overwatch streamer known for his Widowmaker gameplay, took part in a $100,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) event hosted by ReadyUp. Gale Adelaide, another Overwatch broadcaster, was also present at the event, and several attendees noted that both players were teaming up and purposely feeding each other high point kills in order to reach the top of the leaderboards.
A knife kill is difficult enough to gain five points because players can hear you approaching behind them. Players began suspecting both players of collaborating after Gale got three knife kills (15 points) on Kephrii and Kephrii got two knife kills (10 points) on Gale. Many gamers were skeptical after this and subsequent kills. Some players desired to quit playing, but doing so would have resulted in disqualification, therefore the game proceeded.
What happened to Kephrii after the incident?
Given how easy it is to hear someone sneaking up behind you, it seemed strange how two players could get five knife kills in such a short period of time. After receiving numerous complaints, FACEIT reviewed the situation and cleared Kephrii of all charges. Later, other players became suspicious of Kephrii and Gale and demanded that they be removed from the tournament.
Kephrii was eventually pulled from the event, owing to an "increasingly hostile environment", so that the competition could be completed. Kephrii maintained his innocence in any cheating controversy. He remarked in a tweet to Jake Lucky that he "genuinely did not hear [Gale]." He clarified that he hadn't played CSGO in three years, which explains his rustiness. Despite the outcome of the investigation, Jake Lucky tweeted that many players he spoke with remained skeptical and believed the two players conspired to get an advantage.
FAQs
Q. Is CS: GO still popular in 2022?
A. Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) has 1.12 million peak concurrent players on Steam in November 2022. This figure had peaked in March of the previous year at roughly 1.2 million players, not likely attributable in part to the coronavirus epidemic that swept the globe in 2020.
