Tournaments such as The International and Fortnite World Cup are usually livestreamed from big arenas, and the winners can earn several million dollars. Most of the money, however, is made from betting: Wagers on eSports are expected to surge to US$13bil (RM56.67bil) this year from US$5.5bil (RM23.97bil) in 2016, according to a report by research firm Eilers & Krejcik Gaming and advisers Narus. — AFP
Last August, police in Australia’s Victoria province arrested six young men competing in the popular online video game Counter-Strike: Global Offensive.
The authorities, who had tracked the suspects for six months, said they had deliberately lost at least five tournament matches after illegally betting on their own defeats, in Australia’s first police investigation into eSports match-fixing. If convicted, the men face up to 10 years in prison.
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