[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”I will never forget the strength and integrity that all our boys brought to Titan in order to perpetuate what we stood for, the spirit of competition.” Damien Grust, founder and CEO of Titan.[/perfectpullquote]

Strength. Integrity. Spirit of competition. That’s what Damien Grust wants his team to be remembered for. That’s what Titan’s players and its staff deserve without a doubt. The history of the Singaporean esports organization could have been one of successes and top-level play that lasted for decades, hadn’t there been this one critical incident. In November 2014, one of Titan’s CS:GO players, Hovik “KQLY” Tovmassian, was flagged by the Valve Anti-Cheat System (VAC) and banned from competitive play. Despite Titan celebrating further successes during the following year, it was too big of a hit and led to Grust announcing the end of its organization one week ago.

Only two years after its foundation, Titan ceased all operations and released its players into the “beautiful esports wilderness.” Titan’s players won DreamHack Winter 2013 in Quake Live, finished top ten at The International 2014, became vice-champions at Smite’s World Championship 2015. Titan’s most notable successes were in Counter-Strike. Its roster was ranked among the top teams in the world and created some buzz for the biggest confirmed transfer deal in the history of the game, Adil “ScreaM” Benrlitom was recruited for €150,000. But after all, Titan’s glory did not last long. What’s left is a professional gaming organization ruined by the misconduct of a single person. And a showcase as to why fraud is a deadly poison.

[perfectpullquote align=”full” cite=”” link=”” color=”” class=”” size=””]”All the bad press that this brought and the major hit the image of an otherwise respectable brand took, was too much. Sponsors and partners with whom we were about to sign, understandably backed out of deals, not wanting to be associated with a company that had just been tarnished. Needless to say, our budget for 2015 had gone up in smoke from one day to another.”[/perfectpullquote]

The competitive integrity of esports is the core value which keeps our ecosystem up and running. I don’t bother if it becomes an overused term because it bears repeating. Competitive integrity is at the very core of our existence. Not only to satisfy the needs of sponsors, partners and investors—these are certainly important—but also to secure the confidence of every single esports enthusiast. And esports are always driven by enthusiasm—be it in the form of entrepreneurial spirit, the fascination of its fans or the narratives of its evangelists and commitment of its players.

Fraud is a many-faceted phenomena. In esports, it comes in the form of cheating, hacking, match-fixing, doping and many more. The bitter truth is, fraud will always be around. Let’s be real: quite a few people tend to take an unfair competitive advantage to succeed. Sometimes it might just be a little trick, sometimes it will be a criminal act. And sometimes it will make titans crumble and fall. It is disheartening and it feels not right that one person can destroy the reputation of a whole organization. And the same is true for the entire industry. Every new scandal is a heavy setback that leaves us in despair. That’s why, whenever fraud threatens the integrity of our industry, we need to detect, investigate, judge, and punish it.

Strength, integrity, spirit of competition.. let’s make sure Titan doesn’t die intestate.