G2 faces backlash for promoting gambling days after m0NESY turned 18

G2 Esports, one of the most successful esports organizations in recent times in all its divisions, is being heavily criticized for the way it is promoting a new partnership. G2 used the child prodigy and its star, Illya “m0NESY” Osipov, to promote a gambling site days after his 18th birthday.

Since the popularity of gambling and buying/selling skins on different gambling sites started, CS:GO has had a serious problem with it. From match-fixing to many skins being stolen by hackers and many betting scandals, CS:GO has a lot of issues to deal with.

Now that an organization as popular as G2 Esports has decided to promote this type of site and use m0NESY, a player who just came of age, it has created some backlash from the community.

G2 Esports promotes a gambling site with m0NESY

Last May 3, 2023, G2 Esports published an ad on its social networks promoting a CS:GO betting site, and the protagonist of the video was m0NESY, the Russian player who had just turned 18 years old.

Seven years ago, when the popularity of CS:GO skins betting sites grew, many websites were shut down due to many controversies regarding promotion issues with some content creators.

Then, in 2018 and 2019, many European governments started acting against these CS:GO skins betting websites. According to reports, the EU alleged that Valve was allowing and, more seriously, promoting underage players to place skins bets. However, there are currently many skins betting sites that are undoubtedly not regulated by anyone or anything.

Finally, teams or organizers of major tournaments have never been prohibited from partnering with these bookmakers. Moreover, we know that they can bring in large amounts of money.

The community does not take kindly to m0NESY being the video’s protagonist

While it is true that the community is used to these types of partnerships and that it is completely normal for them to happen, the problem for many lies in the fact that m0NESY is the protagonist of the video. G2 Esports AWPer and one of the most promising players in the world, m0NESY, turned 18 a few days ago, i.e., he has just come of age.

Consequently, many important personalities in the CS:GO scene have criticized G2’s use of m0NESY in this announcement. For example, we have YouTuber OhnePixel, who has many years criticizing the association with skins betting sites, said:

“rare G2 L”

On the other hand, BitSkins, a skins buying/selling and trading website, also joined the debate.

As well as these community members who disagree with m0NESY being the ad’s image, many others referred to G2 as not wasting time, seeing that the player just turned 18.

There is no doubt that gambling, in any field, is an exercise that can be dangerous for many people who do not have good habits or simply do not know how to control themselves. The most important thing about betting is not always winning but knowing when to stop.

Header: G2 Esports