The first official eSports tournament of Halo Infinite is overshadowed by a cheating scandal. A top player forces the best servers for himself. This not only harmed the opponents – fellow players and viewers had to suffer as well. MeinMMO tells you more.
With the launch and the great popularity of Halo Infinite, professional competitions are also starting. The Halo Championship Series 2021 (HCS 2021) is the first official tournament in Halo Infinite. It is also the first eSports tournament in a Halo game since 2018.
The last 3 tournaments of the HCS were won by the player Mathew “Royal2” Fiorante with 3 different teams. This year he is playing for Sentinels. Now the top pro is involved in a cheating scandal.
Cheater harmed even his own team for success
What happened? The player Royal2 engaged in so-called “geofiltering” during the qualification rounds of the Halo Championship Series from December 1 – 2, 2021. With this technique, players can block certain servers. This forces the game to find optimal servers for the player. Players who use this technique guarantee the best connection for themselves – forcing other players into bad servers.
Royal2 forced Seattle servers because he lives in Canada. However, most other Halo pros in North America come from the Texas region. Due to Royal2’s geofilter, they all had to play on Seattle servers. This only had advantages for the cheating player.
Players and viewers had to wait over 4 hours due to the cheat
The cheat harmed opponents and teammates: While geofiltering players can play under optimal server conditions, the rest suffer: Both Royal2’s opponents and teammates had bad pings in the games.
With a bad ping, players in shooters have several disadvantages. The worse the connection, the harder it is to react to opponents and hit them. ‘Desync’ problems also occur: Players on the server see different things because they are displayed with delays. Players can be killed even though they are already safely positioned on their screen – but not on the opponent’s screen.
The cheating player Royal2 had the best connection on the server. Therefore, he had none of these issues. His opponents and even teammates had to endure the unsportsmanlike difficulties.
The cheat also harmed viewers: Because many servers were blocked due to the geofilter, there was an abnormal amount of server connection errors. The entire tournament took over 4 hours longer due to these connection problems. Thus, the player with his cheats also harmed the viewers and the entire tournament.
Player won over €1.4 million in prize money in 3 years
Who is the cheater? Royal2 is one of the most well-known names in the professional Halo scene. He won the Halo Championship Series for 3 consecutive years. Between 2016 and 2018, he won over €1.4 million in prize money for himself and his teams.
How was the cheater caught? Several opponents of Royal2 complained to the tournament organizers. They suspected that a player from Sentinels used a geofilter. There were also specific complaints about Royal2 himself. Royal2 deleted the recordings of his stream shortly after the accusations.
The organizers of the Halo tournament then investigated the situation. They found that the Sentinels played on only one server – to which only Royal2 had a good connection.
What are the consequences for the cheater? The tournament organizers were able to prove that Royal2 used this geofilter cheat. As a result, the player was suspended from all competitions until January 28.
His team was also punished: The Sentinels had to face a point deduction. Moreover, they lost their set position in the tournament and will have to earn the spot back. Their perhaps best player Royal2 will not be allowed to participate.
Has the cheater made a statement? The player explained himself on social media:
During the launch of Halo Infinite, I had extremely high ping on US-Central servers. Therefore, I changed my settings to only get West Coast servers, but I forgot to reset that for the American qualifying rounds. Although this was corrected before the Esports Arena tournament last night, I understand the problems I caused with this mistake during the qualification. I did not truly realize the impact this decision would have, and I am really sorry. I would like to apologize to the fans and wish my teammates all the best in Raleigh.
Mathew “Royal2” Fiorante on TwitLonger
The 2021 – 2022 season of the Halo Championship Series runs until October 2022. The HCS Kickoff Major takes place from December 17 – 19. The prize pool is about €2.7 million in total (via halowaypoint.com). How far Sentinels will go after this scandal is questionable. However, with Royal2, they lose one of their key players.
Those who watch the professional games in Halo Infinite quickly realize that the controller is the input method of choice. What controller settings do the pros use, and which controller is the best? You can find out in our article:
Halo Infinite: The best controller settings – Improve your gameplay
