Most notorious game-breaking bugs in esports: from Olofboost to Valorant turret incident

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Esports has been growing and becoming more and more competitive for years now. Video game tournaments have hosted 7-figure prize pools, invited the best players from around the world, and achieved a level of competition and coverage similar to many traditional sports. However, one thing still separates esports from traditional sports: bugs, glitches, and exploits. 

These issues can take form in many different ways, but generally, a player or team is faced with an unexpected behavior in game, which the developer has not intended. Sometimes these bugs are comical or innocuous, but in an unlucky scenario, these bugs can sometimes decide the winner of esports matches. According to software tester William Westerlund, game testing tools aim for a “complex dance of checking everything – from the basics to the tiny details – ensuring gamers get the best ride possible”. The best ride is of utmost importance when careers, cash prizes, and your legacy, are all on the line. 

Counter-Strike

Counter-Strike is no stranger to bugs; surfing and bunnyhopping, which have become two of the community’s favourite movement mechanics, were originally unintended quirks of the game engine. However, sometimes these bugs and exploits make their way into competitive play. 

DreamHack 2014 Winter was rife with controversy from the get-go. French teams Titan and Epsilon Esports, who had originally qualified for the event, were disqualified due to Titan’s KQLY and Epsilon’s Sf receiving VAC bans. The tournament’s claim to fame came as a result of another French team: Team LDLC and their match against Fnatic.

In Fnatic and LDLC’s Quarterfinal match, both teams won one map each, advancing to the third and final map of the series on Overpass. Team LDLC put up a strong performance in their first half, leading the game 12-3 as they switched to the Terrorist side. Fnatic were forced to pull out their secret weapon, something they had been hoping to save until later in the event. 

Through an intricate three-man boost setup, with players jumping on each other’s heads, olofmeister stood atop of KRIMZ. Peeking over the wall in spawn, olofmeister was able to see many key parts of the map, and critically, the LDLC players were unable to shoot back. Fnatic ultimately won the map and series, and the flames were fanned when Fnatic’s coach Devilwalk gave an unapologetic post-game interview, claiming “we had more knowledge about the map, so we won”. 

Much of the community erupted in rage, and LDLC officially filed a complaint to the organizers, claiming a pixel walk had to be performed for the boost. A pixel walk is when a player walks on an invisible ledge which is not intended to be used, and was explicitly banned by the tournament organizer’s rulebook. DreamHack determined the second half of Overpass must be replayed, but Fnatic submitted a complaint of their own, accusing LDLC of a pixel walk as well. DreamHack then decided the entire map must be replayed, but Fnatic eventually conceded the match and willingly dropped out of the event. 

Dota 2

Another one of Valve’s titles, Dota 2 has a bug of its own which has been carved into the game’s history. Known as the “fountain hook”, this particular bug was known about for years before it was used on stage at The International 3 and caused much controversy. 

In 2011, a bug report was created on the now defunct dev.dota2.com website. A user showcased how to reproduce the fountain hook, where a combination of two heroes’ abilities would allow Pudge to massively extend the range of his Meat Hook. The ability usually allows Pudge to throw a chain with a hook attached, and if it hits an enemy, drag the hooked entity back towards him. By combining this with Chen’s Test of Faith ability, which teleports a teammate back to spawn, Pudge could hook an enemy player all the way back to his spawn. 

While some players were convinced this was a bug that needed fixing, Valve was not on the same page. Valve developer ErikJ responded on the forums, claiming the bug was “too hilarious to fix”, and the thread was eventually closed with the conclusion that this is now simply part of the game. Discussion surrounding the fountain hook quieted down, until the International 3. 

At The International in 2013, NAVI faced Chinese team TongFu in the Upper Bracket of Playoffs. After two relatively uneventful first two games, the game progressed to the third and final game of the match. NAVI started the game on the backfoot but eventually began using their fountain hook combo. They land multiple fountain hooks, eventually enough for NAVI to team wipe TongFu, and take back the entire game. 

NAVI proceeded to the tournament’s grand final, where they lost 2-3 against Alliance. Perhaps most interestingly, NAVI banned the hero Chen in four of the five grand final games, not allowing them to utilise the fountain hook. NAVI were not disqualified from the event, as the fountain hook was not considered a bug by Valve, but rather a feature of the game. 

Many professionals were not pleased with Valve's decision to allow the technique. Loda of Alliance went viral in the community for his response at the event to it being allowed. Valve never commented on the usage of the fountain hook at the tournament, but they did remove it a month later in the First Blood update.

Valorant

Valorant is a much newer esports title than Counter-Strike or Dota 2, but still has a history of bugs and exploits in competitive play. Perhaps most egregiously, at Valorant Champions 2022 a bug involving Killjoy’s Turret almost cost XSET their chance at a playoffs run in the event.

In the lower bracket quarterfinal of the Valorant Champions 2022, XSET faced off against FunPlus Phoenix. After trading map wins, the two teams met for a final map on Ascent. The game reached match point at 11-12, with FPX holding the advantage as they entered the potentially final post-plant scenario of the game. Killjoy’s turret unexpectedly alerted XSET to a player in Heaven, but little did they know that both of FPX’s players were pushing out from the other side, and they managed to secure the win. 

The issue was that Killjoy’s turret fires in a burst of threes. So when FPX’s ANGE1 peeked the turret briefly, it fired one shot at him, before returning to its default position and firing the remaining two shots. These two shots tricked XSET into believing the turret was shooting at an enemy, rather than simply emptying its remaining shots. 

Riot Games decided that the turret bug had a “high level of potential impact on XSET losing the round”, and that the final round of the match must be replayed. XSET did manage to win the round and send the game into overtime, but they eventually lost 14-16. Riot’s decision to replay the round was controversial among players, with many highlighting that the bug is well-known and XSET should have known better. FPX’s player Suygetsu even retracted a previous Tweet where he praised XSET’s players, instead tweeting out “not demons just losers”.

PUBG: Battlegrounds

Compared to Valorant or Dota 2, which are relatively closed-in games, battle royale titles present a much more challenging issue when dealing with bugs in a competitive setting. There are so many more players involved that it becomes difficult for tournament organizers to simply replay rounds or reset a match. 

At the PUBG Global Championship 2019, player CherryPoppins of The Rumblers found himself at the mercy of the game’s physics engine. The American was driving around in a car, hunting down some enemy players, when he crashed into a building. Rather than the car coming to a stop or exploding, something you would expect in a video game, he became part of PUBG’s experimental space program. 

Eventually, CherryPoppins became reacquainted with the ground, but his car exploded on impact and the enemy players he was chasing down quickly finished him off. His death ultimately left his teammate in an unwinnable scenario, and they were eliminated from the round. CherryPoppins was quoted, “imagine experiencing a massive bug that cost you a fight in a tournament that’s worth over three millions dollars”.

Fans of the esports title were less than happy with the tournament organizer’s decision to not replay the round and ultimately let things be. CherryPoppin’s team did still manage to advance to the grand finals, but the bug left a sour taste in their mouth after the event. 

League of Legends

At the League of Legends tournament the 2022 World Championship, multiple bugs came to the forefront of the community’s attention. Firstly, in the group stage, DRX’s Kingen experienced a bug with his champion, Gnar. Gnar has a boomerang ability which is supposed to return to him in a straight line, but when targeting Top Esports’ player Wayward, it went off course. 

The boomerang ability, which Kingen missed, veered to the right instead of returning straight to him. Off course, the boomerang actually hit Wayward, leaving him low enough for Kingen to finish him off. Although an unfortunate bug, this was not even the most serious gameplay glitch at the event.

In another group stage match, JD Gaming faced off against G2 Esports. During the match, G2 Esports were leading the game in terms of kills, and they entered one of the most crucial team fights of the match. G2 Esports’ player BrokenBlade was playing as champion Darius, when he encountered a bug with his champion’s ultimate ability. 

Anyone knows why Darius ult went on CD in-game? Lolwiki says it shouldn’t because target died while casting https://t.co/kLCYkPDbMO

— G2 Rodrigo (@rodrigo_rlt) October 10, 2022

Usually, if an enemy dies before Darius can complete his ultimate which is targeted at them, the ultimate is cancelled and will not go on cooldown. BrokenBlade tried to target JDG’s Yagao with his ultimate, but his teammate killed Yagao while the ultimate animation was in progress. Rather than being refunded his ultimate, the ability went on cooldown and ultimately G2 Esports lost the team fight. It is debatable if this bug was responsible for G2 Esports’ loss, but it was one of the many gameplay-influencing bugs found at Worlds 2022.

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Melee is one of the world’s oldest and longest-running esports titles. The game was released in 2001, and quickly developed a passionate community of fans who loved the fighting game. However, the game was a rushed release, with a limited development cycle, and launched with many bugs and issues. The community has banned some of the most egregious bugs over time, but wobbling remains one of esports’ most notorious bugs.

Wobbling, named after American player Wobbles, is an infinite combo performed by Ice Climbers, which can be used on every character in the game, except Ice Climbers themselves. The exploit gained recognition at NCT2 in 2006, when Wobbles earned 9th place at the event consistently using the exploit. After this, many community events banned the technique, whereas some allowed it.

In 2013, the tournament’s most popular event series, EVO, the technique was allowed, and many tournaments followed suit. The technique was legal up until 2019, when many of the community began to support a ban on the technique, as many Ice Climbers players began to achieve consistently high results at major tournaments using the technique. 

Through 2019, many regional events began to ban the technique, and Get On My Level 2019 was the first major event to announce a wobbling ban. Over the next couple of years, many major events announced their own wobbling bans, and today, it’s prohibited at most events. 

Fortnite

Fortnite, similar to PUBG: Battlegrounds, faces the issues of being a battle royale title in competitive play: with so many players involved, it is essentially impossible to replay rounds which have been affected by bugs and glitches. 

At the Fortnite Summer Skirmish Week 8 at PAX, Faze Clan’s player Nate Hill finished in fourth place at the event. The player earned $120,000 for his 4th place result, but the competitor maintained it could have been an even better result if not for a bug.

The final match of the final day saw Nate Hill in a 1v1 to perhaps secure a higher place finish, when he became trapped. With the zone closing in, Nate Hill attempted to break the structure beneath him with his pickaxe, only for nothing to happen. Fans have speculated the bug occurred due to an interaction with the corpse of an opponent glitching out, and resulting in Hill's pickaxe to repeatedly target the body instead of the structure, which he was attempting to break.

Ultimately, the competitor managed to shoot out the structure below him and fell to his death. Caster DrLupo noted that even if his pickaxe was not bugged, his only option was to attempt to shoot his opponent as he fell, and that his chances were slim. Nevertheless, Hill was visibly upset by the bug, and it certainly impacted his gameplay during the crucial 1v1.