A false match-fixing claim dragged North America’s tier two VALORANT scene through a month-long investigation before Riot Games cleared it, raising concerns about the lasting damage baseless accusations can inflict on players and the community.
In a report released by Riot Games on July 30, the developer claimed the evidence it found was insufficient to “substantiate any claims of cheating, coordinated manipulation, or betting-related misconduct by any players, teams, or organizations.”
The investigation was launched after Sean Gares, a well-known creator and former professional player, publicly claimed that suspicious betting activity pointed to non-partnered North American VALORANT teams being involved in match-fixing. It didn’t take long for his comments, which were uploaded in a video statement back in May, to go viral, prompting Riot to launch an inquiry to determine if any competitive integrity violations had occurred.
According to Riot, three of its internal departments (League Operations, Esports Compliance, and Anti-Cheat) conducted the inquiry in collaboration with trusted integrity partners, including Sportradar, GRID, and the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA). Here are the key findings that were highlighted in the report:
- No signs of cheating or suspicious activity.
- No matches across Stage one and Stage two of the 2025 North America Challengers League were found to be suspicious in terms of betting market activities.
- After reviewing betting slip screenshots that went viral on social media, Riot said the allegations aren’t credible since the content and formatting doesn’t match North America Challengers’ style and the source of the image couldn’t be identified either. No suspicious betting patterns were found either.
- Riot’s Broadcast Engineering team and Americas Competitive Operations found no evidence of misuse regarding clean feed access protocols, confirming that the controls adhered to industry standards throughout the process.
- Riot also investigated employee misconduct claims, but couldn’t get the sources to provide direct evidence or valid statements. Therefore, based on the full investigative review, such claims were deemed invalid.
- All additional due diligence measures, such as open source intelligence investigations and performance assessments on players and teams named within the allegations, as well as mapping relationship webs, led to no “actionable evidence.”
Riot closed its report by emphasizing that credible whistleblowing is crucial to protecting competitive integrity, but warned that false or exaggerated claims can derail lives, divert resources, and erode community trust.
The developer also highlighted that match-fixing and other forms of integrity-related misconduct may be considered illegal in some regions, potentially ruining careers and leading to criminal prosecution. “Such actions can carry serious real-world consequences,” Riot noted. “Reports should always be based on credible evidence or observations.”
Despite the drama, Riot encouraged anyone with genuine evidence to step forward. VALORANT players and community members who suspect illicit activity are urged to avoid direct involvement, preserve any proof, and report their findings discreetly, trusting the game’s integrity-first process.
