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Australia Bans CS: GO Betting Site
With the rise of technology, gaming turned into a competitive online sport. E-sports tournaments feature a variety of games, CS: GO included. There are several tournaments with this popular FPS title, and it didn’t take long for players to start betting on the outcomes of matches.
Australian gamers love watching CS: GO tournaments, and some of them like placing bets too. Feral Holdings had a site that facilitated such transactions, which is why it was shut down by the ACMA. Skins were sold at this site, despite online gaming being illegal in Australia.
ACMA Shuts Down Feral Holdings’ Site
Australia prohibits any sort of online gaming that involves money or cryptocurrency. This includes gaming skins. There are legal consequences for sites that fail to follow these regulations. The ACMA makes sure the sites follow the rules and get punished if they don’t.
ACMA is the watchful eye and it spotted illegal activity at Feral Holdings’s site. This site had skins to offer and they were being sold for money. One particular skin was sold for almost $600,000 which got the attention of the regulatory body. After that, the site was banned and the operators were issued a warning to follow Australia’s laws regarding online gaming.
Skins have been used and are used for betting on e-sports tournaments. They can be earned in-game and traded for other skins, sold, or placed as bets. Selling skins is illegal in Australia which is why the site was banned. But there was another concern.
Younger generations like playing CS: GO and they are exposed to the skin market. This could cause them to sell their skins or use them to place bets. Minors are prohibited from gaming and this is the reason why skins pose a threat.
ACMA did the proper thing in banning the site and issuing a warning. This way it prevented any young gamers from breaking the law further and made sure the regulations are followed. E-sports betting is a delicate matter that each regulatory body needs to deal with seriously.
Conclusion
ACMA dealt with a breach of online gaming laws by banning and warning Feral Holdings’ website after the site was used as a platform where visitors could sell their skins. The skins could also be used for betting on e-sports tournaments and could entice a younger generation into entering the betting market, making this a delicate issue ACMA managed to prevent.
