The dust from Team Spirit’s spectacular run through The International 2023 (TI12) might just be settling in, but Dota 2’s premier esports event is back in the news. This time, however, it has been marred by allegations of “322” match-fixing involving three Chinese teams: Team Bright, Team Disillusion, and Holy Grail. The alleged scandal was initially reported on the ‘CN Dota In A Nutshell’ Twitter account, citing a video by JieChuGe, a prominent caster in the Chinese Dota 2 scene.

Dota 2 Match-Fixing Allegations by Chinese caster, JieChuGe

What brings further credibility to JieChuGe’s allegations was that earlier in 2023, he was instrumental in disqualifying 46 players from teams like EHOME and Knights for similar offenses. His current investigation includes hard evidence against Holy Grail where he releases some in-game voice comms of the members of the team. Here, they are clearly heard discussing match-fixing strategies during a game in the TI12 qualifiers.

JieChuGe, who exposed KNIGHTS and helped PerfectWorld and Valve made that 50 CN and SEA players ban list. He recently exposed HG for match fixing and have already report them to PerfectWorld, ESL and Valve.

— CN Dota In A Nutshell (@Tr1H4rd3rDota2) November 13, 2023

Additionally, the players can also be heard discussing what to do in case they are caught, which includes even threatening the people who exposed them.

Official Response and Player Involvement

That’s not all, as the evidence suggests that Team Disillusion and Team Bright may have been involved in the “322” match-fixing scheme as well.  JieChuGe has forwarded the evidence to organizations like Perfect World, ESL, and Valve. There has been no official response yet, though. The players allegedly involved in the scandal include:

Tang “Summer” Kaiwen (Holy Grail)
Gan “GaN–” Hou Sing (Holy Grail)
Hu “dolem” Sen (Holy Grail)
Duan “Dqq” Songjun (Holy Grail)
Wang “sj” Sijie (Holy Grail)
Lu “L’enfer, c’est les autres” Yubin (Team Disillusion)
Liew “Eren” Jun Jie (Team Disillusion)
Chen “Small.Kk” Zhichao (Team Disillusion)
Wang “AYuNiD” Wei (Team Disillusion)
Li “RanFuDao” Xinyuan (Team Disillusion)
Li “Undyne_” Qiancheng (Team Bright)
Hu “Upon a Time.” Xin (Team Bright)
Yuan “phoenix” Cewei (Team Bright)
Li “Irving” Jian (Team Bright)
Chen “imitator” Ren (Team Bright)

The three teams all faced each other in the qualifier’s lower bracket. Team Bright, however, eventually emerging victorious against the fan favorites, Team Aster.

JieChuGe explaining the match-fixing case on his Bilibili channel

The Bigger Picture: Match-Fixing in Dota 2

JieChuGe’s track record in exposing match-fixing is what makes these allegations extremely credible. This scandal comes amid concerns about the declining state of the Chinese Dota 2 scene. Notably, the representation of Chinese teams at The International has decreased significantly, from five teams at TI10 to only two at TI12.

Prominent Chinese player Yang “Chalice” Shenyi has publicly spoken about the reasons behind this decline. He attributed it to a failing professional competition system and a lack of action from organizations like PerfectWorld and Valve. He warns that this could lead to reduced investment in Chinese Dota 2 and a potential downfall of the region’s esports scene.

It remains to be seen how Perfect World, ESL, and Valve react to the allegations.