To all parents, players, team owners, league owners, and tournament organizers involved in Esports

Nowadays, there are game publishers that rig the outcomes of a player's performance in order to allow players on lower skill levels and/or experience to compete in order for the publisher to entice more people to buy their game. 

An example of this technology being implemented to manufacture a player's experience and rig the outcomes is a patent registered by Activision, which you can find here: https://patents.google.com/patent/US20190091577A1/en?oq=20190091577+Kind+CodeA1. You simply only need to word search "modify" and you will find texts that describe how AI algorithms can be used to change the parameters of a game's match both before a game starts AND in real time during a match.

This use of this technology in games is harmful to a player's mental health. Just like any form of competition, if your muscle memory and perfect practice does not yield consistent or progressive results, it can destroy a player's confidence. Or, even worse, at a very early age, it can destroy a child's confidence. These algorithms literally mean having success in the moment in a game is a detriment to a player's overall experience and long term success.

The use of this technology harms a players NIL (Name, Image & Likeness) and ability to make a career for themselves. Esports players careers rely heavily upon their ability to get viewership & sponsorships and be picked up by a team that likes their showcase of skills. It is clear that consistent performances lead to a player's audience being able to expect what they are going to see in a player's videos on demand and live streams. Furthermore, it's also obvious that competitive teams want to recruit players based on the skill sets, but if their skill sets are not predictable or consistent you cannot truly gage a player.

It has been documented that being affected by these algorithms can quickly develop negative views and feelings about:

• The game they are playing; leading to the publisher not including a player in future events to avoid any potential negativity, especially if any outcry videos have been made at any time. This leads to ostracizing underserving players.
• The other players that may not be experiencing the same issues at that moment in time. This leads to unsportsmanlike behavior.
• Committing time and effort into hard work and practice. This leads to cheating. (For the publishers, you make the bed you lay in)
• Esports as a whole, because as stated above, This leads to the detriment of your long term success on a game.

The Bill S. 1629 can be found here: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/1629. The bill says it is to "regulate certain pay-to-win microtransactions and sales of loot boxes in interactive digital entertainment products, and for other purposes." This is in line with our petition because people can buy Call of Duty microtransactions and the game can then change the parameters of the game to rig a player's success, as stated above. It’s been suspected within the Call of Duty community for years if you buy something they will ALLOW you play well. This is no longer happening through loot boxes but can through others forms of purchase. In fact, suspicion has been brewing for so long that people in the community already think it is a FACT. This is just a subcategory of a list of reasons an AI algorithm can change the parameters of a game in order to rig a player's success.

This use of AI technology in games should ONLY be used if the game parameter changing algorithms are reported before a game's match starts.