The winner of the $20,000 Old School RuneScape Deadman Autumn Invitational has been disqualified.
5PLUS50K12, who finished first on the weekend at RuneFest 2017 at Battersea Evolution in London, was mired in controversy, as outlined in the original article linked above.
A subsequent investigation by developers Jagex found that the winner created a bot farm – and this has resulted in their disqualification.
Jagex said in a statement sent to Esports News UK: “Every Deadman tournament provides us with the opportunity to innovate the formula; Saturday’s introduction of the four islands had initially received a very positive reaction, and we look forward to making further refinements in the future. We’re also determined to ensure all Deadman Invitational players are provided with the best educational resources possible to help mitigate against DDoS attacks.”
“Following our standard investigation into the winner of the tournament, we discovered they were responsible for the creation of a bot farm. As a result, the winner has been disqualified and all accounts linked to the botting activity have been banned.
“Following our investigation into the winner, we discovered they were responsible for the creation of a bot farm. As a result, the winner has been disqualified and all accounts linked to the botting activity have been banned.”
“We are currently discussing what should happen to the prize money, including rolling it over to the Deadman Winter Invitational, sharing it among the finalists, making a further charitable donation, or a combination of all three.”
Jagex added: “We’re proud of what the Deadman Invitationals have done to raise awareness of Old School RuneScape. It’s brought new and lapsed players to the game, achieved incredible viewing figures during the final hour of the tournament, and showed that long-form competitive gaming can be a success.
“We’re looking forward to continuing that accomplishment in the future, and we wish all Deadman Winter Invitational competitors the very best of luck.”
The Oldschool team have also issued a statement to the community which can be found here.
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Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He has almost two decades of experience in journalism, and left Esports News UK in June 2025.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He also previously worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation.
