The prosecution indicted 11 former and current professional players of StarCraft, one of the most popular military strategy computer games developed by Blizzard Entertainment, for deliberately losing matches for financial gains.
It is the first time ever that fixing of what is called electronic sports(e-sports) in Korea has been detected.
Three gambling Web site operators were also indicted for brokering the 11 players and illegal gamblers.
StarCraft is the most popular online game here, accounting for nearly 70 percent of Korean e-sports.
According to the Seoul Central Prosecutors' office, the gamblers, who also run a training institute for professional gamer hopefuls, lured the 11 players, including nine incumbents, into deliberately losing their matches in exchange for receiving compensation tanging from 2 million to up to 6.5million won($1,760~5,730).
At least 11 StarCraft matches were rigged the office estimates, and the gamblers racked up huge returns from an online gambling Web site using such pre-determined results.
"They paid greater compensation to high tankers," said a prosecutor familiar with the case. "lured gamers informed contenders of their strategies in advance or loosened their defense at the very end of a match, leading to a dramatic reversal in a showdown."
Prosecutors are widening their investigation.
Though it's the first case of this kind, it didn't come as a surprise to e-sports players and industry watchers here since there have been rumors regarding fixed StarCraft matches in recent months.
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