SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
Having spearheaded eSports first ‘Competitive Integrity Certification Program’, aimed at establishing best practices, player and game guidelines/standards, and improving stakeholder dialogue. SBC caught up with Bryce Blum Director of eSports at Unikrn to gain further insight on why the certification program was established and its potential industry benefits.
A lawyer and avid gamer, Blum who leads gaming operations for Unikrn was at the centre of establishing the certification program’s framework.
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SBC: Just how important is the introduction of the Competitive Integrity Certification Program for eSports? For whom does it matter most?
Bryce Blum: It is a vital step for ensuring sustainable growth of the eSports industry. We need to take a collaborative, proactive approach to setting and enforcing industry standards for competitive integrity. This initiative is about bringing all key stakeholders to the same table so we can harness our collective knowledge and resources. Competitive integrity cannot be safeguarded individually. We must work together to achieve the results our businesses and the industry we love depend on.
This issue is paramount for everyone involved with the industry. As eSports reach a tipping point of mainstream emersion, the legitimacy of match results are more critical than ever. Advertisers, investors and fans depend on it.
SBC: What are the intended, and expected, repercussions for the further growth of the industry as a whole?
BB: Promoting competitive integrity cannot create growth, but it is the essential underpinning on which we all rely to achieve the type of growth industry insiders and outsiders are predicting. Nothing could harm our efforts more than persistent instances of match fixing, hacking, scripting, DDoSing, and the like. Put more simply, I don’t expect the certification program to increase the rate of growth for the industry. But, hopefully, it will stop us from shooting ourselves in the proverbial foot.
SBC: As director of the program you’ve stressed the importance of a constant dialogue between those at the heart of eSports; the players, teams, organisers and major third parties. What format will this dialogue take?
BB: I’m glad you bring this up because it’s absolutely key. Unikrn isn’t trying to dictate industry standards to anyone; our goal is simply to get the ball rolling and take a leadership role in making sure we keep driving forward on this crucial issue.
As for the particular format of dialogue, that remains to be decided. The necessary parties are scattered all over the world, so it won’t be easy to find a time or place. But the Internet is a wonderful thing and I’m a firm believer that you can make anything work if everyone has the collective willpower to see it through. For starters, I’d like to see everyone actively participate in a centralized conversation. Over time, that might develop into some form of overarching governing body, but we’re in the early stages of this thing so it’s a little difficult to predict.
SBC: Unikrn have stated how participating leagues and tournaments will be ranked along different tiers of competitive integrity based on the extent to which they satisfy different requirements of the program. Could you give our readers a little more insight into what this means?
BB: The idea is that every organizer will be evaluated based on their rules and enforcement practices. The program really does take a 360 degree approach, so evaluated topics include education, reporting, investigation, punishment, wagering rules, appeals, player codes of conduct and much more. If we haven’t thought of something, we’ll simply add it to the list. That’s the point of the ongoing dialogue among all key stakeholders. This program will only be as comprehensive as it is proactive.
The best example I can think of is LEED green building certification in the US. Organizers score points for addressing a certain issue, with the potential to earn more points if they go above and beyond on that issue. The different “tiers” denote the amount of points scored, with threshold levels for each tier. So two different gold-level organizers might take entirely different approaches to getting there, with each organizer emphasizing different issues. But they could never get to that level without having an overall industry-leading set of competitive integrity rules and enforcement mechanisms in place.
SBC: In our last chat you highlighted the problematic issue of a diffuse group of competition organisers. With this number expected to increase yet further, how will the certification program tackle this?
BB: By bringing new organizers into the discussion. I think the certification program is uniquely well-suited to address this particular issue, because it’s designed to establish industry standards that can be easily adopted by any organizer – new or old. Imagine a new organizer coming into the space, and having clearly defined industry standards for competitive integrity, along with the support of a body to help implement these standards. This initiative is about raising the bar for the entire industry. Helping avoid some growing pains for newer organizers (and the trickle down impact that has on teams and players) is just one of the many benefits.
SBC: How long has the draft been in the works and who have you collaborated with so far? What made Faceit the stand out choice for the primary rollout of the initiative?
BB: This project has been in the works since the day I started working at Unikrn about six months ago – even earlier really. I’ve felt this was an important step for the industry for years, and always had a passion for doing whatever I could to make it happen. I was just fortunate enough to wind up at a company that believed in this vision and gave me all the support I could ask for to get it off the ground.
We’ve already had discussions with many of the biggest organizers, teams, players, and third parties with a vested interested in this type of program. I’m not going to mention specific names because I don’t think it’s my place. We’re very close to establishing formal partnerships with several other key stakeholders, and we’ll certainly follow up with another announcement when we do.
That being said, we couldn’t pick a better initial partner than FaceIt. They were eager to work on this from the word “go,” gave us great feedback along the way and have a genuine passion for the issue that matches our own. In addition, they’re one of the premier eSports competition organizers in the world and maintain an impeccable reputation on issues relating to competitive integrity. We’re thrilled to have them involved in the initial rollout, and know they will have a crucial part in the development of the program for years to come.
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Bryce Blum -Director of eSports at Unikrn
