EXPLOIT: You Can Cancel Your FACEiT Matches Mid Game
Faceit confirms that they are not able to "manually result matches" so a cancellation will result in you not losing or gaining ELO
FACEIT has long been the dominant third-party matchmaking platform for Counter-Strike, evolving from an independent challenger to the centerpiece of a much larger esports ecosystem. That transformation accelerated in 2022 when FACEIT merged with ESL to form the ESL FACEIT Group (EFG), bringing together one of esports’ largest tournament organizers and one of its most popular competitive gaming platforms under a single umbrella. The merger was backed by Savvy Gaming Group, a Saudi-owned gaming and esports investment company, which acquired both businesses as part of a deal valued at roughly $1.5 billion.
The consolidation also united several of the most recognizable brands in competitive Counter-Strike, including ESL, FACEIT, DreamHack, and ESEA. Prior to the merger, ESEA had already been operating under ESL ownership, meaning that FACEIT’s biggest historical competitor effectively became part of the same corporate family. The stated goal was to create a seamless pathway from grassroots competition and online matchmaking all the way to professional esports events, while combining infrastructure, anti-cheat technology, and competitive ecosystems across the brands.
As a result, FACEIT today occupies a uniquely powerful position within the Counter-Strike ecosystem. For many players, ELO on FACEIT carries more weight than Valve’s native matchmaking ranks, and the platform serves as a gateway to leagues, qualifiers, and professional opportunities. That makes the integrity of FACEIT’s matchmaking system especially important. However, a recently discovered exploit raises questions about how match results are handled when games are cancelled mid-match. According a source that messaged FACEIT support about the exploit, FACEIT answered “Unfortunately, we are not able to manually result matches”, creating a loophole where players can avoid an ELO loss if a match is successfully cancelled before completion.
Context for the exploit
The source’s team was leading 6-1 on Cache, the enemy team contacted an admin, where there came a message from the admin, that everyone would have to connect to the new server. One person from the enemy team didn’t connect to the new server, which led to the cancellation of the match.
The message from the admin was: “@everyone Please refresh the page and reconnect using the Connect To Server button. The score and money will be restored from the backup once the game goes live. If you have issues connecting to the new server, please restart your game. Keep in mind that if anyone from the losing team does not connect to the new server, the other team will be awarded the win!” (see the image below).
The explanation from FACEIT Support
After the incident, the source messaged FACEIT Support.
Note: This conversation with FACEIT Support lasts from the 17th-22nd of July.
The source was then met with a standard reply message:
The source replied with the context of them not being able to choose a ticket for this specific situation, where he was sent to the LiveChat support for the problem.
This message was sent on July 20th, which was three days after the incident, which the source points out in the image below:
This is where the source is met with the confirmation of FACEIT Support not being able to manually result matches.
In conclusion, the admin lied to the players in the lobby to get them all to join the server to continue the game, by promising a victory for the winning team if everyone from the losing team didn’t join. FACEIT Support was then now able to manually insert the result, which led to the cancellation of the match, and no ELO was gained or lost.