Experts say publisher involvement is key to effective eSports regulation

- Genius Sports exec Christopher Dougan, speaking to Kotaku about what's required for effective eSports regulation.

The business of eSports is growing at a rapid clip, and so are concerns about eSports gambling.

Most devs have probably heard about the money flowing through unregulated Counter-Strike: GO gambling rings (via wagers of in-game cosmetic items), which Bloomberg estimated at roughly $2.3 billion in 2015. Devs who want to know where we're at now should check out a Kotaku feature published today examines the state of eSports gambling. 

It addresses CS:GO skin betting but goes on to explore a number of notable concerns about betting on eSports -- most notably, that there's more reason than ever for players/teams to fix matches, and that effective gambling regulation probably can't happen to any real degree without involvement by game developers and publishers.

"There have been attempts of establishing eSports oversight bodies, but they are limited at the competition level due to the fragmented structure in eSports and unlikely to be effective without the involvement of the publishers," Christopher Dougan, an exec at sports and betting data firm Genius Sports, told Kotaku.

"Without the publisher’s full cooperation, any oversight body is hugely limited in its scope, and one could argue act more as a publicity vehicle as they are not capable of carrying out effective integrity measures."

Numerous eSports regulatory organizations have been formed in recent years, most notably the World eSports Association (WESA), which was formed by the Electronic Sports League in 2016 and quickly called out for allegedly flawed regulatory practices.

For more insight on the topic you can read the rest of Dougan's comments, along with perspectives from legal experts and self-described eSports gamblers, over on Kotaku.