Dota 2 Team Newbee and Players Receive Permanent Ban From Valve for Match-Fixing
Credit: ESL Gaming
After Eight months, Chinese Dota 2 organization Newbee has finally received a permanent ban from Valve Corporation for match-fixing. According to the announcement by Dota 2 Chinese distributor Perfect World, Newbee and its five players, Xu "Moogy" Han, Yin "AQ" Rui, Wen "Wizard" Lipeng, Yan "Waixi" Chao, and Zeng "Faith" Hongda, will be not allowed to attend all Valve and Perfect World related Dota 2 competitions, which means the 2014 The International championship team has come to a dishonorable end.
Newbee was not only one of the best Chinese Dota 2 teams, but also one of the best performing teams in the world. The organization won the 2014 edition of TI, and placed second in 2017. The organization is also the sixth highest-earning esports team of all time, in terms of prize money, according to EsportsEarnings.
As The Esports Observer reported in July of 2020, Newbee was also accused of not paying $100K in prize money to Fornite players from the 2019 Fortnite World Cup.
The match-fixing incident began from the second match of Newbee and Avengerls, during the Dota 2 Starladder ImbaTV League (SL-I) in February of 2020, which came to light in May. The competition was one of the Minor events at Valve's Dota Pro Circuit (DPC). Both Newbee and Avengerls were involved in the match-fixing, the Chinese Dota 2 Association (CDA) told The Esports Observer. On May 20, CDA, production company Imba TV, and Mars Media gave a life-time ban to the team and players. However, without game publisher Valve's clear statement, the match-fixing accused players could still attend competitions like The International (TI) and Perfect World Dota 2 League (PWL). As we reported in November of 2020, it became one of the main reasons that Chinese major Dota 2 teams like PSG.LGD, and Vici Gaming, among others, refused to join the PWL – Newbee players competed in the competition but on different teams.
Avengerls and its players also received permanent bans by Valve.
Tags: BanscheatingChinaDota 2Match-fixingNewbeePerfect WorldValve Corporation
Hongyu Chen
Hongyu "Eddie" Chen serves as a bridge between China and the West's esports scenes. He is a hardworking bilingual graduate of MA Business and Marketing and a certified BEng Electronic and Communication Engineer. Though young (25 years old), he has over 12-years of esports experiences globally. He is super passionate on esports as a whole, and also a hardcore Dota 2 player, 5400+MMR, top 0.8% in the world.