Fact Check: "A speedrunner is banned from the Pokemon speedrun community over cheating in 2024"
What We Know
On January 1, 2024, the Pokémon Speedrun moderation team released a report disqualifying a speedrunner named Jadiwi from the leaderboards for cheating allegations. Jadiwi had recently set a world record in the 'Any% Glitchless' category for Pokémon Red with a time of 1:43:52, which was viewed with skepticism due to its improbability, especially after the previous record of 1:44:03 set by Pokeguy in January 2023 (Dexerto, GamesRadar).
The investigation revealed that Jadiwi had allegedly spliced together multiple runs using save states from emulation software, allowing him to optimize sections of his gameplay that were performed poorly in real-time. This method of cheating was confirmed by Jadiwi himself, who confessed to the misconduct in a message posted online (GGRecon, Automaton Media).
The Pokémon Speedrun community had previously expressed concerns about the rapid rise of Jadiwi in the rankings, prompting the moderation team to conduct a thorough investigation (EarlyGame, AMK Station).
Analysis
The evidence presented by the Pokémon Speedrun moderation team is substantial and includes both the findings from their investigation and Jadiwi's own confession. The moderation team stated they found "sufficient evidence to accuse Jadiwi of cheating," which led to his immediate removal from all leaderboards and a ban from future submissions (Dexerto, GamesRadar).
The reliability of the sources reporting on this incident is high, as they are established gaming news outlets with a history of covering esports and speedrunning events. The moderation team's decision to publicly release their findings also adds credibility to the claims, as it demonstrates transparency in their processes.
Critically, the motivations behind Jadiwi's actions seem to be tied to the significant cash bounties offered for breaking speedrunning records, which could amount to thousands of dollars, further incentivizing the cheating behavior (Automaton Media, GGRecon).
Conclusion
The claim that a speedrunner was banned from the Pokémon speedrun community over cheating in 2024 is True. The evidence from the Pokémon Speedrun moderation team's investigation, along with Jadiwi's confession, confirms that he engaged in dishonest practices to achieve his world record. The community's response and the subsequent actions taken by the moderation team further validate the seriousness of the allegations.
Sources
- World record Pokemon speedrunner banned for suspected cheating
- Pokemon speedrunner who beat a seemingly unbeatable world ...
- Pokemon speedrunning record holder banned over suspected cheating
- Behind the Pokemon Red World Record Speedrun cheating scandal
- Cheating Scandal: Pokémon World Record Holding…
- World Champion Pokémon Speedrunner Banned Following Cheating ...
