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The team behind Old School RuneScape has finally responded to the controversy that engulfed the recent Deadman Autumn Invitational.
Viewers became suspicious after some odd behaviour and string of mystery disconnects blighted the final game. The decision to split the last 200 players into four separate islands also raised eyebrows, particularly when groups of teammates were placed together.
“Congratulations to ‘5PLUS50K12’ on their triumph, it was a great battle and they are a well-deserved victor,” senior product manager Mathew Kemp previously said. “The Deadman Invitationals have continued to experience greater and greater success in the competitive gaming scene since they launched nearly two years ago, and the Autumn Invitational was no different.”
The tone now, however, has very much changed.
“The initial reaction to distributing survivors across four Islands was very positive, and it’s clear that we’re moving in the right direction,” a team statement said. “The red island was warned repeatedly, and we reached out many, many times to them. In hindsight perhaps we could’ve opted to take a random member of the team through to the final area, but we stand by the decision we made.
“The last survivor of the final has been disqualified. A standard subsequent investigation into the winner of the tournament took place and the winner was responsible for the creation of a bot farm. Naturally all accounts linked to this botting activity have now been banned.
“Holding the event at RuneFest was a great occasion, particularly for those attending in person, but on reflection we’re better served if the Deadman final is an event in its own right and we aren’t confined to the schedule of a larger event.”
The team added that it has not yet decided what to do with the prize money, which looks like it could either be given to charity, shared among the other finalists or carried over to the next season.
