Players protests against BLAST!

For quite some time, the usage of voice communications and screen recording has been a touchy subject. The Counter-Strike Professional Players' Association (CSPPA) have announced that they will not grant BLAST access to any of this information, as long as any "clear agreements" haven't been made.

The CSPPA emphasize that they have already tried discussing the issue with BLAST, however, no proper response have been made regarding the usage and safety of the files with discussed information:

"The CSPPA has repeatedly tried to get BLAST to engage with the players regarding the use and storage of voice comms recordings and videos of players, pointing out that the measures that they have implemented are both harmful and illegal if they do not have clear agreements with players on how to store and use information including personal information," the association said. "BLAST have declined to discuss this with the players."

The CSPPA have further commented on the way in which precautions are being made in order to "safeguard the integrity of the game". They explain that such precautions are essential, however, they believe that this can be done in a far more beneficial way on a technical level:

"Such recordings severely affect performance of the PC, when there are other measures available that would not."

The CSPPA believes that such access to information will compromise the safety of the professional players both on a tactical and personal level.

The player reps from all of the eight BLAST Premier fall 2020 finals have stated the following:

"We players are disappointed in how BLAST have handled this. We have tried to engage with them, but they have not been willing to engage with us at all. They have left us no choice but to make a stand here. Hopefully, they hear our concerns this way."

The opening match between Mousesports and Vitality is now live after having been delayed for over 2 hours. The match was set to begin at 16:30 (CET).