Doping & Cheating
Arslan “Xannii” Shadzhanov confesses match-fixing
Arslan Shadzhanov (better known as xannii) was once considered a promising talent in the Dota 2 community. Yet, a recently unfolded match fixing scandal may have ended his dreams of a successful esports career. Remarkably xannii was not investigated for match fixing, rather he decided to confess his own actions. Though it is easy to judge a player for throwing a match, xannii’s recent confessions show the slippery slope that beckons when engaging with fixers.
Background
In a recent interview, xannii revealed that he intentionally manipulated two Dota 2 matches whilst playing for Empire in 2022. Whilst struggling for form and suffering from financial problems, xannii was approached by Sensibility, an infamous individual in the esports industry who was indefinitely banned by Valve for match-fixing himself in 2021. Sensibility offered xannii $4,500.- for intentionally losing three matches. As xannii was not receiving any salary, he accepted the proposition in a bid to fix his financial troubles. In the end, xannii manipulated two matches by remaining inactive (blaming his inactivity on lag) and disconnecting in a subsequent game. As a result of these manipulations, Empire lost both games, after which xannii was axed from the team.
His engagement in match-fixing sent him down a slippery slope from which he could not recover. After his forced departure from Empire, xannii struggled to find a new team. However, upon securing a spot at HF, a lower-division Dota 2 team, Sensibility blackmailed xannii in a bid to get him to manipulate more games. Suffering from the weight of his actions he decided to come clean and confess what he did, despite the imminent threat of sanctions. Valve, the publisher of Dota 2, may ban xannii for match-fixing, though xannii remains unfazed by this prospect.
Valve terms and conditions
Xannii revealed that he does not know whether his confession will result in sanctions by Valve, the publisher of popular games including Dota 2 and Counter-Strike. Commonly, players who are convicted of match-fixing are banned indefinitely by Valve. Earlier this year over 40 Chinese Dota 2 players were banned, many of them for life for throwing multiple games. The legal basis for imposing sanctions on players is the STEAM® SUBSCRIBER AGREEMENT, which every user of Steam enters into. Section 2 paragraph G of this agreement imposes restrictions on using Valve’s content and services, explicitly listing match-fixing as a prohibited use. Subsequently, Valve may restrict or foreclose access to its content and services if a player violates the subscriber agreement. This effectively means that Valve may indefinitely ban any player from its products and services.
Valve, therefore has a legal basis for imposing bans on any player who engages in match-fixing, regardless of whether they are caught red-handed or fess up their acts. More likely than not xannii will be facing a ban for his involvement in match-fixing. Whether Valve will consider the fact he chose to disclose his actions remains to be seen.
