It has been nearly a year since Valve Corp made the decision to permanently ban players who had been involved with rigging professional Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) tournaments, and this week Valve reaffirmed that stance, saying that it has no intention of giving any of the players another chance.

“Professional Counter-Strike is very important to us and to our community,” Valve said on the official CS:GO blog. “The audience’s trust in the integrity of the sport has allowed it to grow to the point where it entertains millions of fans. To ensure that the highest level of competition continues to entertain, that integrity can never be called into question.”

Valve not only banned the players from future CS:GO tournaments, but from all Valve-sponsored events entirely, which includes other popular esports titles like Dota 2.

“As the scene grows, it’s an unfortunate reality that some individuals will seek opportunities to take advantage of their fans,” Valve continued. “We will continue to take whatever action we think is necessary to protect the entertainment value created by professional Counter-Strike, including, on occasion, terminating our relationship with individuals who have demonstrated a willingness to exploit their fans’ faith in the integrity of the sport.”

Protecting the integrity of CS:GO is obviously important for Valve, but it is also important for the esports industry as a whole. After multiple high-profile scandals in 2015, the esports industry has struggled to prove that it can deal with cheating, corruption, and other issues that threaten the legitimacy of its competitions.

It is also equally important for the numerous esports gambling companies that have started to pop up, including the Mark Cuban-backed Unikrn, which allow fans to bet on the outcomes of professional gaming tournaments. Even if match-fixing or other forms of cheating are only suspected in a game, that could scare people away from putting real money on the line.

“While bans can be disruptive and painful to some members of the community, they are sometimes necessary,” Valve concluded. “We sincerely hope that we won’t have to issue more in the future.”

Image courtesy of Valve Corp