Boosting Services in Esports: Legitimacy, Ethics & Regulation Explained

As of 2025, with over 600 million viewers and billions in profit, competitive gaming is a profession. The services of boosting are a problem with competitive fairness, however. Boosting is usually done through account sharing or smurfing, where players use lower-ranked accounts to overwhelm less skilled players.

It is viewed as a just service by some, like coaching, while others do not approve because it is cheating that stains competition. The article correlates the impact of boosting on esports, its fairness, and emphasizes how the industry governs boosting using authentic examples and legal opinions to portray a holistic picture of the issue.

What Is Boosting?

Boosting is when a player, known as a booster, increases another player's game rank or matchmaking rating. That may mean he plays on another player's account to gain wins or plays with him to increase win counts. The services are provided through various sites and cost anywhere from $15 for low, lower-rank boosts to $600 for high-grade, top-rank boosts for titles like League of Legends, Valorant, or Dota 2.

Apart from these costs, ranks have more benefits like the right to receive exclusive in-game gifts and eligibility for tournaments or simple acknowledgment among players.

Players choose boosting because it takes a lot of time and skill to rank up, which some individuals lack. Ranks are high, which increase a player's prestige, and some games, such as League of Legends, even offer their top players actual rewards, i.e., a jacket.

Is Boosting Fair?

The fairness of boosting divides the world of esports. Its advocates claim it's easy: a player pays, and the booster gives them a higher rank. They liken it to hiring a coach or buying in-game items, both standard in gaming.

Boosters, often talented players who cannot get a foothold in professional play, can earn several hundred dollars a month, particularly in places where there are limited job opportunities. Busy players see boosting as a useful way to have what they desire, part of gaming's phenomenon of paid conveniences.

Detractors counter that boosting detracts from the fundamental principle of esports: ranks must accurately indicate a player's prowess and dedication. Buying an undeserved rank gives one an unfair advantage, infuriating those who have worked diligently to ascend ranks. Boosted individuals tend to perform poorly at their acquired ranks, creating team conflict or suspicion of cheating.

Boosting Over the World

Research indicates more than 600,000 accounts in League of Legends, Overwatch, and Dota 2 have employed boosting, with the industry taking home €110 million a year, which skews ranking fairness and undermines competitive integrity.

If you're looking for a secure and reputable way to climb the ranks without compromising your account, consider professional services like AskBoosters, where experienced players help you reach your goals safely and efficiently.

Legally, boosting is bad. The typical punishments are rank reductions and even banning, which are EULA sanctions. German courts have, however, denounced the practice of boosting as an unfair business practice and equated it to the selling of cheat software. Such a practice arguably would lead to legal action or fines against providers.

The Regulation of Boosting in Esports

Esports has been actively counterfeiting, boosting with technology, regulation, and community efforts to ensure a fair game. Below are more specific explanations for the same.

Anti-Boosting Technology

Game developers have also come up with algorithms to identify boosting. They try to catch abnormal activity, including rapid boosts in skills coming from one player, or track suspicious log-ins from various locations. Riot Games, the company that develops Valorant and League of Legends, has algorithms that are very effective at finding boosting.

Blizzard showed commitment to the cause by banning over 10,000 Overwatch accounts associated with boosting activity in 2023.

Both boosters and clients suffer from serious penalties. Boosters risk losing their accounts and the possibility of becoming a professional player, and clients risk having their ranks reduced or rewards taken away. Device bans, which shut down a player's computer from accessing the game, are increasingly being utilized to discourage repeat offenders.

Rules and Legal Enforcement

EULAs serve as the foundation for anti-boosting laws, directly prohibiting account-sharing and rank cheating. Valve's Counter-Strike 2 terms, for instance, allow account suspension on the occasion of boosting violations. The developers impose the rules using in-game messages and community guidelines detailing the risks of boosting.

But it is not simple to catch boosters as they use VPN or engage in using fake accounts to conceal their identities. Some companies hire private investigators to trace providers, but the opposing laws of nations make it difficult. Some of the IP addresses usually get revealed when signing up for a boosting service, thanks to unauthorized access by a third-party faction.

Within the European Union, site boosting consistently overlooks consumer law, i.e., opening refund options, which could allow customers to cancel deals. These rights are difficult to enforce since providers remain anonymous. South Korea's criminal penalties for boosting, combined with significant fines and imprisonment, constitute a unique approach.

Community and Industry Actions

The esports community is also to blame for deterring boosting. Internet forums like Reddit encourage fair play and dislike boosting, exerting social pressure. Major tournament organizers like ESL verify players' ranks to prevent boosted players from entering pro tournaments. Coaching services, where specialists guide players in improving their own skills without playing on their account, are gaining prominence as an equitable way to improve, reducing boosting.

• Boosters hide behind VPNs and concealed websites.
• Various laws worldwide render consistent enforcement challenging.

The Future of Boosting Regulation

Boosting remains a challenge that continues to evolve, with suppliers using advanced methods like AI tools or VPNs to conceal themselves. Developers are pushing back by adding better anti-cheat systems, like Vanguard from Riot, which now targets boosting specifically.

In the future, equitable alternatives could weaken boosting's appeal. Coaching services already help players improve without breaking regulations, and their growth is eroding, boosting the market. Some games may include "soft reset" functionality, legally making rank changes for players, offering a legitimate answer to rank-fixing.

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