ESIC to Reportedly Sanction 52 Individuals in Coach Bug Follow-up cover image

ESIC to Reportedly Sanction 52 Individuals in Coach Bug Follow-up

The ESIC might finally be coming out with an update for the Coach bug Investigation. After 15 months of wait, 52 coaches could be potentially banned.

According to a report by Dexerto, ESIC's follow-up investigation has concluded. The Esports watchdog will be releasing their findings soon. With the RMR events kicking off in a couple of week, these sanctions could have a catastrophic effect.

Multiple Different Types of Coach Bugs Detected

Michal Slowinski, was one of the key investigators in the original Coach Bug report. The Referee has now posted a thread on twitter, outlining the 5 types of bugs that he had detected in the investigation.

Static View Coach Bug

The first variant of the Coach Bug to be detected was the Static View Coach Bug. The 37 coaches that were banned in the initial report had instances of this bug being triggered. In this bug, the coach is stuck in a fixed position, with control over the camera movement.

Free Roam Coach Bug

The much more shocking revelation was the existence of a free roam bug. In this bug the Coach had full control over both the camera's position and rotation. Effectively rendering the coach in a NoClip state. The first example of this released to the public was in Luis Mira's recent report on Valens' coach bug instances.

3rd Person Bug

Something straight out of a Warowl Mod Video, the 3rd person bug placed the coach camera on the shoulders of a player. In this bug the coach camera was stuck on a 3rd person perspective behind the players. Thus allowing you to check corners for the player without having to expose yourself.

Bomb Camera Bug

The final variant of the coach bug was the bomb camera bug. In this instance the coach camera gets stuck on top of the bomb, thus allowing them to see if the bomb is being defused or if it is a fakeout.

Criticism Levelled at ESIC

The Esports Integrity Commision hasn't had the best track record since the initial Coach Bug report. After multiple overturned bans that had the potential to ruin careers of multiple players. The inconsistent punishment curve was another point of contention.

But most of all, the speed at which ESIC completes their investigations is extremely slow. The first bans in the matchfixing investigation were dished out in April of 2021, now over a year later we haven't received a completed report. Similarly, the coach bug was made public on August 26, 2020. And now over 15 months later we might finally be getting an update.

According to Michau himself, the investigation for all bugs concluded on 30th of March 2021. Almost exactly a year later, ESIC has finally shown some activity on the case.

On top of that, for an agency with a public sanctions register, ESIC shows a lack of transparency as highlighted by @Mnmzzz on twitter.

In the 15 months since the original report, many coaches have served their bans and were forced to leave their teams, possibly costing them Major spots and Big results. Meanwhile other individuals may potentially still be active in top teams. If the ESIC wants to remain a trustworthy organization in Esports, they will need to make some serious changes to their direction and structure. Otherwise, tournament organizers, players, teams, etc. may lose their trust in the only watchdog Counter-Strike currently has.