Chapter 685: Refusing to Admit Defeat Until the Last Moment
The impact of the "Haimi cheating incident" continued to spread.
Many people never expected such a dramatic reversal in the situation. The gossip-loving crowd was naturally buzzing with heated discussions, but what drew even more attention was the stance of Moyu Live Streaming Platform.
As a major streamer, Haimi's exposure of cheating this time mainly involved considering reactions from three sides. First was the official side. Chen Mo had no particular attitude toward it—admitting the mistake and apologizing was enough. Second was the audience and public pressure, which wouldn't directly affect the streamer but would certainly influence the platform's decision. Finally, there was Moyu Live Streaming Platform itself.
Generally speaking, in cheating incidents like this, the streaming platform could choose to protect the streamer or sell them out. Of course, the specific measures taken depended on the players' reactions.
If the players were outraged, the platform would cut ties to protect itself, permanently banning the streamer's channel, refunding gifts, and using the harshest penalties to distance itself from the streamer.
If the players were relatively forgiving and the streamer still had value, the platform might be more lenient, helping the streamer do some charity to clean up their image, hold a press conference to cry and admit mistakes, and then go back to happily streaming and making money.
Clearly, Haimi's own admission of cheating caught Moyu Live Streaming Platform off guard. Even the platform's executives were puzzled—Haimi had been doing well in his self-defense, seemingly on the verge of clearing his name and boosting his popularity. Why did he blow himself up?
A day later, Moyu Live Streaming Platform released its notice. The penalty for Haimi was to refund all gifts received during his "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" streams and permanently ban his channel.
Of course, Moyu was relatively lenient—they didn't pursue breach of contract against Haimi. And banning his channel only meant he couldn't stream on Moyu anymore; what he did elsewhere was out of their hands.
But even so, it was harsh enough. At such a critical moment, which streaming platform would be willing to sign a streamer with a shady history like Haimi?
...
After finishing off Haimi, the players' attention turned to streamers like Tianchong. Every streamer who had entered the "God Server" was exposed by the players without exception.
Streamers from various platforms were involved, but the biggest one was Tianchong from Moyu Live Streaming Platform, jokingly called the "Barcode Warrior" by the crowd.
Haimi's self-destruction was almost a fatal stab in the back to these people.
At first, some streamers tried to dodge the issue with laughter and evasive talk.
The players were furious. What the hell? Trying to bluff their way through? Did they really think everyone was just idle gossipers who couldn't punish them?
Soon, pressure came from all sides. First, the major streaming platforms couldn't hold out, especially Moyu Live Streaming Platform.
Many players expressed their outrage: "Are you condoning cheaters? Might as well rename yourselves from 'Moyu' to 'Cheat Fish'!"
Moyu Live Streaming Platform had no reason to protect streamers like Tianchong. On one hand, the "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" section still had streamers like Old P who didn't cheat and could be promoted. On the other hand, the platform's reputation was more important than a few streamers.
How much actual profit would protecting these streamers bring? Their core fanbase wasn't that large. But damaging the platform's reputation and losing users would be a loss outweighing the gain.
So, Moyu Live Streaming Platform began pressuring all streamers under its banner who had used soft aimbots in "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds," demanding they explain themselves within a deadline to reverse public opinion, or face necessary measures.
These measures included drastically reducing promotional resources, locking viewer counts, terminating contracts, or even permanently banning channels.
The reason Moyu was so tough was partly due to Chen Mo's stance. According to on-site sources, Chen Mo had a conversation with Haimi, which was likely closely tied to Haimi's admission of cheating.
In other words, Chen Mo clearly wasn't going to let these cheating streamers off the hook. Even a skilled streamer like Haimi had been taken down by Chen Mo, let alone the smaller fry.
Moyu Live Streaming Platform also wanted to avoid an ugly scene later, so they gave these streamers a heads-up in advance.
Ultimately, under the pressure of public opinion, the major streaming platforms jointly issued a statement. All streamers accused of cheating would participate in an offline self-defense event!
This self-defense event would still be held in the imperial capital, at the MG esports club. All streamers were to participate voluntarily.
Clearly, this was the last chance the platforms were giving these streamers. If they didn't attend this self-defense, it essentially meant they would face a joint ban.
...
Qin An looked sadly at the instant noodles in front of him. There were only four packs left.
He ordered another box online, wincing at his dwindling bank account balance.
"Sigh, I'm so broke. I wonder when the major esports clubs will set up their 'PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds' divisions."
Qin An muttered to himself while calculating his living expenses for the next month.
He felt his skills in "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" were already pretty good. In the God Server, he could often break into the top ten. Though he'd never gotten a chicken dinner, he seemed to improve every day.
As for the regular server, he wasn't sure. But it should be easier than the God Server, right?
He checked the recent news again and felt that "PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds" had been going through a turbulent period. First, Haimi's self-defense backfired, and he admitted to using a soft aimbot. Then, the major streaming platforms jointly organized a self-defense event, possibly the largest in history, with up to seven participants.
In contrast, "Wolf Soul: Modern Battlefield" and "Blazing Assault 2" had much less drama and were much quieter.
Genius remembers this site's address in one second: