Overview

The rules listed on this page are applicable to the Mercantile Esports Championship 2023. These general event rules apply across the gaming titles listed to all teams and players who register or attend the online event.

These rules will override any specific clauses in the game rules, unless otherwise specified. For any clarification of rules or questions, please contact us directly.

Click on the section links below to scroll to the relevant section:

1. Participation Rules
2. Game Rules
3. Match Reschedules
4. Match Broadcasting & Livestreams
5. Player Conduct
6. Mandatory Player Verification
7. Penalties for Breach
8. Procedure
9. Disputes on Match Outcomes
10. Disputes on Referee Conduct
11. Publicity & PR
12. Rule Changes
13. Liability
14. Legal Process
15. Confidentiality
16. Additional Agreements
17. Disclaimer

1. Participation Rules

1.1. – Participation Criteria
1.1.1. – All employees currently employed or who owns any company or business registered in Sri Lanka can take part in this Championship.
1.1.2. – All participants are required to submit sufficient evidence while registering, to prove that they are currently employed at the company they wish to represent.
1.1.3. – Only active and current employees able to take part representing their companies.
1.1.4. – All matches will be played according to local Sri Lankan times (GMT +5.5)

1.2.1. – The following documents can be presented as proof of being a current employee/owner of the company or business they wish to represent:
a. A ID card issued by the company (with details such as date of employment, designation included)
b. Letter from Company, signed by a Director or Managing Director (Name of the Signatory and Company Seal should be clearly visible) OR
c. Latest salary slip (including a Seal or some sort of certification)
e. If you own your own business, you need to submit a copy of the Business Registration and any other official documents to prove that you own your company

1.2.2. – For any clarifications please contact us on the support methods listed at the bottom of this page.
1.2.3. – Providing forged or amended documents is a breach of the Tournament Rules. Severe penalties including but not limited to the immediate disqualification of the player and his/her team from the tournament, bans of a minimum of 2 (TWO) years from all future Gamer.LK tournaments and additional penalties depending on the severity of the offence will be imposed on offenders.

1.3. – Representing multiple companies
Participants can only represent one company at the tournament. Any participant found to be in violation will receive severe penalties including but not limited to the immediate disqualification from the tournament and a minimum of a 1 (ONE) year ban from all future Gamer.LK tournaments. In the case of teams, all teams the player was a part of will be disqualified and all players in such teams will also face a minimum of a 1 (ONE) year ban.

1.4. – Condition of Entry
Participants need to be a current employee/owner of the company or business they are representing.

1.5. – Nationality
1.6.1. – The Championship is open to applicants born in Sri Lanka or possess Sri Lankan citizenships.
1.6.2. – If you are not a Sri Lankan, to take part in this tournament you need to have resided in Sri Lanka for a minimum period of 6 months (on a Residence/Study Visa Permit with valid documentation). You are required to submit sufficient proof of residence when you are registering for the tournament.

1.6. – Team Names
Please double check and submit your correct team name during registration. Team names will not be changed after registrations are closed and the draw is published.

1.7. – Names – Team Names, Player Aliases
A team or player’s name, icon, profile picture or logo may not contain any of the following:
– profanities,
– obscene or vulgar language,
– racist, anti-Semitic or inciting hatred
– gang affiliation,
– drugs,
– sexual material,
– offensive material,
– slander of InGame Esports/Gamer.LK or it’s administration, partners or sponsors.
Using alternative spelling, gibberish or wrong spelling in order to avoid the requirements mentioned above is forbidden.

1.8. – Banned Players
1.8.1 – Any player banned from InGame Esports/Gamer.LK tournaments will not be allowed to take part in this tournament during the period of the ban.
1.8.2 – A link to a complete list of players currently banned from all Gamer.LK tournaments can be found at https://gamer.lk/blacklist.
1.8.3. – Gamer.LK reserves the right to refuse players who have standing bans from the respective game publishers to take part in this tournament.
1.8.4. – Depending on the severity of the publisher ban, such bans will be translated into Gamer.LK bans upon discovery.

1.9. – Restricted Sponsor List
The following is a non-exhaustive list of restricted sponsors that cannot be used with any team or player:
– non-“over-the-counter” drugs
– firearms, handguns, ammunition providers
– pornographic imagery or products
– tobacco products
– alcohol products
– betting companies

1.10. – Agreements
InGame Esports/Gamer.LK is not responsible for any additional agreements, nor do they agree to enforce any such agreements made between individual players or teams. Gamer.LK highly discourages such agreements taking place, and such agreements that are contradicting any rules listed herein are under no circumstances allowed.

1.11. – Account sharing
Account sharing is strictly prohibited. All participants need to have their own accounts for the tournament. Any participant found to be in violation will receive severe penalties including but not limited to the immediate disqualification from the tournament and a minimum of a 1 (ONE) year ban from all future InGame Esports/Gamer.LK tournaments.

1.12. – Additional player details
Upon request by Gamer.LK Referees or administration, players will be required to send information including but not limited to full name, contact details (mobile phone, land phone, email address), date of birth, residential address and photo.

1.13. – Player accounts
Players can only use the accounts they have registered with for the respective tournament. Playing under another player’s account, or soliciting or inducing someone else to play under another player’s account, is prohibited. Players cannot change their account details submitted after they have played their first match. This clause may be overruled by game-specific rules.

2. Game Rules

2.1. – The rules for each game title are listed separately. Please select the game from the list and read through each set of rules separately.

2.2. – Pre-Match Ready-up (Warm-up) Time
2.2.1. – There will be no warm-up time provided before a player’s match start.
2.2.2. – Issues with peripherals, drivers not functioning, game not being updated, etc will not be reasons to hold up the starting time of a game.

2.3. – Punctuality
Teams and players must be online and contact their referee at least ONE hour before their match.

2.4. – Tournament Draws, Formats and Match Sets
2.4.1. – The tournament draws will be published for each game title according to the “Bracket release date” mentioned on the respective gaming title’s InGame Esports platform registration page for the Championship.
2.4.2. – All game titles will be held with single elimination (knock-out) brackets. Exceptions maybe made for single player game titles at the discretion of Gamer.LK and these will be informed to the relevant players.
2.4.3. – All the final matches of team game titles will be held as best of 3 game match sets. Exceptions maybe made for single player game titles at the discretion of Gamer.LK and these will be informed to the relevant players.

3. Match Reschedules

3.1. – Criteria for match reschedules
Rescheduling may happen only after the quarter-final matches. No reschedules (including any time changes) will be entertained before that. Teams and players may request match reschedules only after the quarter-final matches are complete.

3.2. – Match reschedule requesting procedure
All reschedule requests should only be sent via email to [email protected]. Reschedule requests must be made at least 24 hours prior to the match time. Any late requests will not be entertained. Any requests sent via PM to referees or tournament staff will also not be considered.

3.3. – Match reschedule approval procedure
3.3.1. – For a match reschedule to be confirmed in a team game, both teams (the team making the request and the team playing against them) AND Gamer.LK staff have to agree to the new time.
3.3.2. – In the event of an individual (1v1) game, both players should agree to the new time AND Gamer.LK staff have to agree to the new time.
3.3.3. – If any party is unable to agree to the new time, the match should be played according to the initially scheduled time.

3.4. – Circumstances for automatic reschedule
A match/game may automatically be rescheduled ONLY under the following circumstances:
3.4.1. – The Game Network (eg: Riot, Steam, Dota, Blizzard, etc) is offline or unavailable due to a mandatory service breakdown or outage which has been announced officially.
3.4.2. – The Game Network (eg: Riot, Steam, Dota, Blizzard, etc) is offline or unavailable due to a sudden service outage which is experienced in the region/country and is notified online (on Reddit, the developer’s social media or discussion forums).
3.4.3. – Gamer.LK Staff are unavailable for a match.
3.4.4. – Other instances not listed here and upto the discretion of Gamer.LK Staff.

4. Match Broadcasting & Livestreams

4.1. – Rights
All broadcasting rights of this Championship are owned by Gamer.LK. This includes, but is not limited to: bots, audio streams, video streams, GOTV, demos, Dota TV or television broadcasts. Gamer.LK can assign the broadcasting rights of a match or of several matches to a third party or to the actual players themselves. In this case, terms and conditions would have to be arranged with Gamer.LK before the match. Gamer.LK reserves the right to use, distribute, and modify all parts of any stream indefinitely. All ingame footage and assets are the property of the respective developers and publishers.

4.2. – Responsibility
Players and participants cannot refuse to have their matches broadcasted by Gamer.LK or any authorized broadcaster, nor can they choose in what manner of which the match will be broadcasted.

4.3. – Personal streaming of matches
Personal streaming is NOT allowed unless otherwise explicitly permitted by Gamer.LK. Personal streaming in any game by a player without permission, can lead to the disqualification of the player.

4.4. – Tournament Stream Delay
Tournament streams will be delayed to avoid player sniping. Players/teams that are found to be abusing a tournament stream will be disqualified immediately and will face severe penalties including bans.

4.5. – Tournament Stream Schedule
Gamer.LK reserves the right to decide on which matches are streamed and such matches will be marked on the match schedule. Some matches may be recorded to be streamed on a future date.

5. Player Conduct

5.1. – Game Configs/Drivers
Teams are expected to include their config files in the relevant field on the registration form when registering for the tournament. Teams who forget to include or have additional requirements, need to contact the Organisers before registrations close.

5.2. – Walkovers
5.2.1. – A team reserves the right to award a walkover if they are unable to play or have the full team present for a match.
5.2.2. – The team may face penalties such as not receiving any prizes or points for their place for awarding a walkover.
5.2.3. – Gamer.LK Staff may at their discretion override these rules depending on the situation at hand.

5.3. – Team Roster Changes
5.3.1. – Roster changes are allowed only before the first match in the tournament.
5.3.2. – After the first match, all rosters are locked and cannot be changed regardless of the situation.
5.3.3. – All roster change requests should only be sent via email to [email protected]. Roster change requests must be made at least 24 hours prior to the match time of the team’s first match in the tournament. Any late requests will not be entertained. Any requests sent via PM to referees or tournament staff will also not be considered.
5.3.4. – It is the team’s responsibility to make sure they have the necessary substitutes registered before the tournament starts.

5.3. – Indecent Behaviour
5.3.1. – Swearing or any kind of hostility, racist or any sort of abuse towards another player is strictly prohibited. This includes chat messages in-game, verbal exchanges, etc.
5.3.2. – Insults on chat programs, social media, email or other means of communication will be punished if the evidence is clear and is brought to the attention of Gamer.LK Staff. Particularly severe abuse cases with radical statements or the threat of physical violence can result in significantly heavier penalties including the disqualification of the player or team from the tournament and/or future tournaments as well.

5.4. – Sportsmanship
All participants are required to uphold the highest standards of fair play and sportsmanship.

5.5. – Insults, Racial Slurs or Harassment
5.5.1 – We have a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY for any kind of harassment including but not limited to, demeaning language, threats, hate crimes, deliberate intimidation, sexual images in public spaces, non-consensual photography or recording, stalking, following, inappropriate physical contact, sustained disruption of talks or other events, unwelcome physical/sexual attention as well as statements or verbal exchanges that threatens or expresses contempt of ethnicity, religious belief, sexual orientation, citizenship, appearance, body size, age, disability and gender identity.
5.5.2. – Depending on the gravity of the offence, significantly heavier penalties including the disqualification of the player or team from the tournament and/or bans from future tournaments as well as criminal charges may be imposed.
5.5.3. – Every participant has to show the needed respect towards other participants, Gamer.LK Staff, Event Staff and Casters. The ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY applies to EVERYONE participating, including but not limited to: attendees, press, staff, sponsors & guests.

5.6. – Compete in a Professional Manner
Players are expected to compete in a professional manner. Throwing a match, halting play without cause or showing a flagrant lack of effort will be construed as a violation of player conduct, and will be penalized appropriately.

5.7. – Betting or Gambling
5.7.1. – Gambling in any form, including betting on the outcome of games has no place in the world of Esports or even video gaming in general. Gamer.LK has a strict policy of any form of gambling being prohibited.
5.7.2. – Any detection of the same will lead to severe penalties being imposed on the offenders. This includes match fixing and related offences as well.
5.7.3. – No players, team managers, staff or management of attending clans/organizations may be involved in betting or gambling, associate with betters or gamblers, or provide anyone any information that may assist betting or gambling, either directly or indirectly, for any match in the tournament.
5.7.4. – Any player found to be in breach of this rule will face severe penalties including lifetime bans from all Gamer.LK Tournaments. Team official, staff, management will similarly face the maximum penalties that can be issued.

5.8. – Match Fixing
Match fixing is defined as the act of arranging the outcome of a match prior to its being played. Match fixing is strictly prohibited and all individuals involved will face severe penalties.

5.9. – Cheating of any kind
Any player/team found to be cheating including but not limited to in-game cheats, faking match results, faking match demos, faking or ringing a player, playing with a disallowed player, impersonating a player/organisation, will face severe penalties including lifetime bans from all Gamer.LK Tournaments.

5.10. – Competition Manipulation
5.10.1. – Offering money/benefits, making threats or exerting pressure towards anyone involved with Gamer.LK, its partners or sponsors with the goal of influencing a result of a match is considered competition manipulation.
5.10.2. – Any player found to be in breach of this rule will face severe penalties including lifetime bans from all Gamer.LK Tournaments. Team official, staff, management will similarly face the maximum penalties that can be issued.

6. MANDATORY PLAYER VERIFICATION

6.1. – Player verification for all matches
6.1.1. – It is compulsory that all players connect to the Gamer.LK Discord Server (https://discord.gg/gamerlk) for player verifications during their matches. This is mandatory for all players for all their matches. Verifications will be conducted by the Gamer.LK Referees responsible for each match along with any other requirements such as coin-tossing and drafting.
6.2.2. – Players should join the Gamer.LK Discord Server at least 15 minutes before their scheduled match time and use the Discord channel called #player-help-desk to speak to the Gamer.LK Referee team and receive their relevant Discord role.
6.2.3. – Specific channels for the tournament will be visible once you receive the role. Players should connect to the channel for their relevant team/match.
6.2.4. – Players connecting should have their nicknames matching their gaming names (or gaming profile names) as submitted on the registration.

6.2. – Video verification from semi-finals onwards
6.2.1. – All players taking part in the semi-finals and finals of any game title will need to provide a live camera feed.
6.2.2. – Players may need to use a secondary device or camera (eg: a second phone, a webcam with a laptop, etc) and join the relevant channel as detailed above in 6.1. Players are advised to join at least 30 minutes ahead of their match time and ensure that their microphone and videos are functioning properly.
6.2.3. – During this setup period, due to instability of online conditions or technical issues, calls may drop. You should speak to the Gamer.LK Referee in such situations immediately. Match times will not be pushed back due to delays on setting up a player’s verification feed.
6.2.4. – All players should cooperate with Gamer.LK Referees at all times to complete their setup before matches start.
6.2.5. – If a player’s camera disconnects during the match, the player needs to reconnect back within 1 minute. If the player doesn’t reconnect, penalties including but not limited to disqualification of the team/player or clearing the points of the team/player may be issued. Incase of an emergency, the player or captain should inform the Gamer.LK Referee immediately. The same penalties may be issued for players who continue to disconnect repeatedly.
6.2.6. – Players should ensure that their secondary device has enough power and memory to function during the full duration of the match. Players should also make sure that the secondary device has no ongoing downloads or streams as this may also affect the call quality and stability.
6.2.7. – During the match, players shall pay attention to their personal appearance and where they are seated at all times.
6.2.8. – Players should not be consuming food or smoking during the match.
6.2.9. – Players must be fully clothed and properly dressed during the match and behaving appropriately. No obscene/insensitive gestures, clothing or backgrounds should be shown on the camera.
6.2.10. – Players cannot leave the camera frame at any point during the match.
6.2.11. – The playing phone or device cannot be taken out of the camera frame at any point during the match.
6.2.12. – Players should make sure the camera frame on the secondary device shows the player’s face (and playing device for mobile games). Reference images below:

For mobile games:

For PC games:

6.3. – Please note that the above procedures are mandatory for all teams and players without any exception. Failure to comply with the required verification will lead to the immediate disqualification of the team/player.

6.4. – In the event of any technical issue, the Gamer.LK Referees may use a different voice server (eg: TeamSpeak) or a different platform (eg; Zoom, Google Meet) for verification purposes. In such instances, players will receive the relevant video/voice call credentials from the Gamer.LK Referee. Do not join any other server or call and share your video camera or voice unless it has been sent from a Gamer.LK Referee.

6.5. – Gamer.LK Referees will monitor the communication (and video camera feeds during the semi-finals and finals) during all matches. Gamer.LK reserves the right to record any communication during the event.

7. Penalties for Breach

7.1. – General Player Penalties
Violation of the rules or failure to comply with Gamer.LK Staff in any of the above situations will lead to penalties as mentioned in each rule. Depending on the severity of the offense, levels of penalties may be skipped. For all situations not listed above, the following general penalties will apply.
7.1.1. – Warning:
– A warning maybe issued for minor breaches of rules by any Gamer.LK Staff.
– In the event of three warnings being accumulated by a team/player, they may be disqualified from the the tournament.
7.1.2. – Game Loss:
– A game loss may be forced on a team/player depending on the breach of rule.
– A game loss means that the team/player loses the current game no matter what the ingame result is. The win would be awarded to the opponent instead.
7.1.3. – Disqualifications:
– A team/player may face disqualification from the tournament due to breach of rules.
– When a team/player is disqualified, they will not be able to proceed in the bracket.
7.1.4. – No Show:
– A team/player that registers for the tournament and doesn’t show up for a match or pulls out of the tournament will be considered “no show”.
– In the bracket however, the scheduled match would be considered a walkover.
– Special rules are in place for teams/players awarding walkovers during semifinals and final rounds.
7.1.5. – Ban:
– In extreme circumstances, a team/player might be banned from the ongoing tournament.
– Based on the severity of the violation this ban might extend to future Gamer.LK tournaments.

7.2. – Penalties on Player Conduct
Players who are caught swearing or behaving in a hostile manner towards their opponents or staff will be issued with a warning and suitable penalty (eg: draft penalty in Dota 2, etc) upon their first infraction. Continued infractions will result in the following: forfeiture of a ban upon the second incident and forfeiture of the match upon the third incident.

7.3. – Penalties on Unprofessional Behavior
Players who are caught throwing a match, halting play without cause or showing a flagrant lack of effort will be issued with a warning and suitable penalty (eg: draft penalty in Dota 2, etc) upon their first infraction. Continued infractions will result in the following: forfeiture of a ban upon the second incident and forfeiture of the match upon the third incident.

8. Procedure

Based on the violation or failure to comply the following line of communication will be undertaken to inform of any relevant penalty.
– Firstly, inform the Player/s in question
– Secondly, inform the Team Captain (if it applies)
– Thirdly, inform the Company representative (if it applies)
– Lastly, the relevant Company may be informed of the violation officially as well
In case the Player or Team Captain wishes to dispute or challenge the decision they are free to do so and follow the steps set out for “Disputes of Match Outcomes”.

9. Disputes on Match outcomes

Disputes at the tournament must be first made to the referees and thereafter they will escalate it as necessary. If there was no response to your dispute then you may get in touch with the Organisers via the contact methods listed at the bottom of this page.

10. Disputes on Referee Conduct

Any player or team who feels that a Gamer.LK Staff Member (Referee, Caster or Ops Staff) acted in a manner contrary to the spirit of the game and lacking professionalism, they may report such instances directly to the Gamer.LK Administration. Please email such instances to [email protected] with all the details surrounding the situation. All reports will be kept confidential and the Administration will get in touch directly to discuss the matter further.

11. Publicity & PR

Gamer.LK reserves the right to use the name, tag, likeness, video, game play statistics, and/or gaming account ID of any player, for publicity purposes prior to, during, or after the tournament/event end date, in any media, throughout the world, in perpetuity, for any purpose including but not limited to, advertising, marketing and promoting the tournament/event and future tournaments. For a full understanding of what this means please refer to the Player Appearance Release.

12. Rule Changes

Gamer.LK reserves the right to ignore or overrule any of the above-mentioned rules in order to make the competition as fair as possible. Teams and participants acknowledge the right for Gamer.LK to modify the rules and regulations as and when needed. Such modifications need not necessarily be publicly announced during the progress of a tournament.

13. Liability

No person/s shall hold Gamer.LK (InGame Entertainment (Pvt) Ltd) or its staff (including referees, casters and event staff), sponsors and partners liable in any manner whatsoever for any circumstance or situation arising from or at any of our events including but not limited to acts beyond its control, including without limitation, acts of God, acts or regulations of any governmental or supra-national authority, war, terrorist activities or national emergency, accident, fire, lightning, riot, civil commotion, explosions, strikes, lockouts, industrial disputes or epidemics.

14. Legal Process

Legal proceedings are not permitted.

15. Confidentiality

The content of protests, discussions or any other correspondence with Gamer.LK referees, officials and administrators are deemed strictly confidential. The publication of such material is prohibited without a written consent from Gamer.LK administration.

16. Additional Agreements

Gamer.LK or its staff, partners or sponsors are not responsible for any additional agreements, nor do they agree to enforce any such agreements made between individual players or teams. The Gamer.LK administration highly discourages such agreements taking place, and such agreements that are contradicting any rules set here are under no circumstances allowed.

17. Disclaimer

Gamer.LK or its staff, partners or sponsors are not responsible for any additional agreements, nor do they agree to enforce any such agreements made between individual players or teams. The Gamer.LK administration highly discourages such agreements taking place, and such agreements that are contradicting any rules set here are under no circumstances allowed.

Contact the Organisers