XSE fires lead admin after Magnojez Steam hack

XSE dismissed the lead admin after Kirill ‘Magnojez’ Rodnov’s Steam account was hacked at the $1,000,000 XSE Pro League Guangzhou LAN. In a statement released after the group stage, the organizer wrote that it had wiped and reinstalled affected tournament PCs and replaced a number of training room machines.

The statement arrived after group play concluded and ahead of playoffs scheduled to begin July 9 in Guangzhou. XSE acknowledged a series of problems during the opening days, including lengthy delays, hardware faults and player reports of suspicious software on competition machines. The organizer confirmed a power outage caused a delay on the second day and wrote that staff ‘were not adequately prepared’ for the technical issues on day one.

Players at the event raised concerns about the condition of tournament machines, prompting additional checks and remedial work by event staff. XSE confirmed it had dismissed ‘the lead admin responsible’ in response to the reported security breach affecting Magnojez’s Steam account. The company added that later matches in the group stage proceeded with fewer interruptions.

XSE did not provide a full technical account of how the malicious software entered the systems or how the Steam account was compromised. The organizer emphasized the administrative change and system reinstalls as actions taken to restore secure conditions for the remainder of the tournament.

The Guangzhou LAN carries a seven-figure prize pool and features top teams competing at a physical venue. With playoffs set to begin on July 9, teams and event staff will continue under the revised setup and the personnel change announced by XSE.