On May 16, Sean "sgares" Gares, released a video in which he claimed that match-fixing had 'infected' North America's tier-two VALORANT scene, particularly the North American Challengers League. In the widely shared post, Gares referred to instances of alleged match manipulation, cheating, and underground betting activity. He claimed that outside investors had paid bribes totalling "tens of thousands of dollars" to influence match outcomes. He stated that he had been conducting his own investigation for several weeks and pledged to release further evidence soon.

Riot Games responded swiftly to the allegations. As early as 17 May, a spokesperson confirmed that an internal investigation had been launched and that, at that point, no evidence had been found implicating any Riot staff. In an official statement published on 30 July 2025, Riot outlined the results of its inquiry.

The Anti-Cheat and Competitive Operations teams conducted a thorough analysis of gameplay and account data, focusing particularly on the contested match between Blue Otter and Shopify Rebellion, as well as six other matches that had been flagged as potentially suspicious. The review found no indications of cheating or abnormal activity. Integrity partners Sportradar, GRID, and the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) conducted a comprehensive evaluation of betting markets across all 2025 Challengers matches and identified no irregularities.

Furthermore, a betting slip that was widely circulated on social media was found to be unrelated to any VALORANT event, showing no patterns that could be considered as manipulation in relation to the NA Challengers League.

Findings and Next Steps

Following its investigation, Riot Games stated that there was insufficient evidence to support allegations of cheating, match-fixing, or illicit betting activity by any players, teams, or organizations. No disciplinary actions were taken, and no individuals were formally implicated.

Nevertheless, Riot emphasized that it remains vigilant and is prepared to reopen the case should credible new evidence come to light. The company also reiterated the importance of basing any formal reports on concrete, verifiable information, warning that unfounded accusations risk undermining confidence in the competitive integrity of the esports ecosystem.