ESL confirms flash bug in FURIA’s IEM Rio match

The controversy surrounding the flash bug that could have “helped” FURIA in their victory against FaZe Clan has already concluded. ESL has given a concrete answer about what happened, and after analyzing the bug, they have confirmed that it was not a server error.

With these statements from ESL, there is no doubt that the bug that could “affect” the result between FURIA and FaZe was an error in the game as such. In addition, the idea that many in the community had that it was simply a server error is completely discarded.

On the other hand, this is not good news, as it indicates that this can happen again, both in official competitions and in casual games. At this point, Valve has to take action to fix these kinds of bugs and make the CS:GO ecosystem stay healthy until CS2 is released.

ESL confirms flash bug was not a server error

In the match between FaZe and FURIA at IEM Rio 2023, we observed how, in the first round of the series on Mirage, FaZe was trying to do a retake on Site A on Mirage. However, after launching a flashbang to blind three FURIA players, this did not affect the Brazilian players. Moreover, FURIA’s own Andrei “arT” Piovezan, IGL of FURIA, was the one who shared the video on his Twitter account.

This caused a small stir in the community, as many fans claimed it was a server error. At the same time, others asked (ironically) for the match to be suspended, as, according to these fans, FaZe had “lost” for this reason.

However, ESL told DotEsports in a statement that this was a “CS:GO bug.”. In the statement, ESL said, ” So there was indeed a bug in the game when FaZe Clan threw their flash, due to which FURIA’s players didn’t get blinded.”

Now, if this is completely true, it’s very likely that this bug could still happen in matches, and, no doubt, many players will avoid launching those flashes unless Valve releases some patch to correct the situation.

This bug is new to the professional CS:GO scene

While it is true that CS:GO is a game that has had many bugs throughout its entire history, the fact that it appears in an official match in a top-level tournament is completely new.

That is why if it is indeed a CS:GO bug, Valve should act immediately to fix it. Also, the fact that CS2 will be released in the summer of 2023 does not mean that they should neglect the CS:GO scene, as let’s remember that the season will continue, and the first Counter-Strike 2 tournament will be in March 2024.

Finally, we will never know whether or not this bug has affected the development and outcome of the match between FaZe and FURIA. However, what is a fact is that the Brazilians won the series comfortably by 2-0 and are now in the quarterfinals of IEM Rio 2023, while FaZe was eliminated at the hands of Team Vitality.

Header: Valve