HCS league officials have issued a competitive ruling towards Complexity and roster member Spartan, leaving them disqualified.
Quadrant is hosting an international Halo Infinite tournament in London. The HCS London Major has some of the best Halo teams in the world competing, but unfortunately for Complexity, their time is done due to a disqualification.
League officials have made a competitive ruling, removing Complexity from the HCS Major because a non-tournament official SSD was used by newest member Tyler "Spartan" Ganza. Early investigation details point towards the SSD having software to increase performance of the PC, but no cheats or any other software were found.
Competitive integrity ruling disqualifies Complexity from HCS London Major 2024
The summary of the official ruling's background states that Complexity were onstage during Pool Play. Prior to their match against FaZe Clan, officials conducted a routine equipment check. Admins discovered that Spartan's SSD was not the official tournament SSD.
The SSD contained software that was not provided by the league. It intended to make changes to existing software and increase PC performance. The official ruling states that Spartan cooperated with the investigation, but ultimately, enough evidence against competitive integrity rules deemed Complexity disqualified.
Official Ruling
Here are the official rulebook sections that determine Complexity's disqualification at the HCS London Major:
“C. Cheating
The Administration understands that it has an obligation to facilitate a level playing field for all competitors. Competing fairly and to the best of your ability is important towards fostering a healthy competitive environment, and the Administration is committed to ensuring the facilitation of fair competition throughout the duration of the Program and beyond. Any form of cheating, whether intentional or not, by any Participant is strictly prohibited. Participants are required and expected to maintain cognizance of these Official Rules and any form of cheating or violation of these rules, or the spirit of these rules, either intentionally or unintentionally, will result in penalties in accordance with the Code of Conduct. All Participants are prohibited from influencing or manipulating a Game or Match so that the outcome is determined by anything other than fair and reasonable play….
6. League Required Equipment
- Failure to use Provided Equipment
- Using unauthorized or unapproved equipment”
"3. General
- 3.1. Any violation of the rules set forth in the Handbook, Code of Conduct, or in these Official Rules, including, without limitation, any form of cheating, may result in a forfeit of the Game/Match and/or disqualification from the Tournament."
Related articles
Tournament update after Complexity HCS disqualification
From the official ruling, here is the effect on the tournament:
- Complexity receive an automatic last place in Pool C.
- The match that took place between FaZe and Complexity will be ruled as a 3-0 map count in favor of FaZe, their match record is 2-0 headed into Day 2.
- The match that did not take place between Cloud9 and Complexity will be ruled as a 3-0 map count in favor of Cloud9, their match record is 1-1 headed into Day 2.
- There will still only be 1 team from the Open Bracket that will qualify for Pool C following the conclusion of Open Bracket Play. They will receive an automatic match victory over Complexity with a map count of 3-0, and will enter Pool Play with a record of 1-0.
- Complexity will receive 0 HCS points and 0 prizing.
Officials have indicated that additional rulings for Spartan individually will be decided after the HCS London Major has completed.
[6/1/24] UPDATE: Complexity responds to competitive ruling
You can read Complexity's full statement and findings of their own investigation through the link in the X post above.
In summary, they agree with the HCS ruling and have suspended Spartan from the Complexity Halo team due to the situation and subsequent disqualification.
Further action is expected from both Complexity and the HCS, once the London Major has completed.
Stay tuned to esports.gg for more esports news and Halo coverage.
