Pro 'Counter-Strike' team's owners also own an esports betting site
CSGO Lounge, one of the many controversial Counter-Strike gambling sites to come under fire in recent months, is majority-owned by ESForce Holding, the same organization that owns top Counter-Strike team Virtus.pro.
The recently discovered link between the two entities brings up a question around business and competitive ethics: Should the owner of a team be able to profit off a site where people can gamble on that team's failure or success?
A number of Counter-Strike gambling sites came under the scrutiny of the CS community after it came out that some sites' owners were not disclosing their affiliation with their sites and others were rigging results. CS:GO developer Valve sent out cease and desist letters to over two dozen CS gambling sites, and CSGOLounge.com was right at the top.
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On Aug. 11, a tweet implicated CSGO Lounge is owned by Virtus.pro, a Polish Counter-Strike: Global Offensive team with the oldest roster in the scene and recent ELeague champions.
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From there, Esports Observer looked into the matter, checking the Polish business register, and sure enough ESForce Holding owns 90% of CSGO Lounge. In the document, the company that owns the site is registered as Lounge LLC.
Under the section regarding the information of the partners, ESforce Holding (formerly known as Virtus.pro Group) is listed as the second partner, holding 90% of the value of CSGO Lounge.
The listing for Lounge LLC's registration is dated from this July, and possibly happened in order to help legitimize the gambling site after Valve sent the cease and desist letters. CS GO Lounge released a statement on its website in late July stating it was making an effort to do just that.
"In order to avoid or reduce the confusion, we have decided to acquire a license to legally operate in most of the countries and be able to accept the esports bets by our community, as if it would be real money," the statement reads.
While that's a step in the right direction for the site, ESforce Holding is toeing the line of Valve's own rules it outlined in 2015:
"Professional players, teams, and anyone involved in the production of CS:GO events, should under no circumstances gamble on CS:GO matches, associate with high volume CS:GO gamblers, or deliver information to others that might influence their CS:GO bets."
The relationship between CSGO Lounge and Virtus.pro could get the team removed from events, according to Valve's rules. After a match-fixing scandal in 2014, Valve banned seven CS players from playing in tournaments ever again.
Mashable reached out to Valve and ESforce, and will update the story if we receive comment.
