The night before Cecil’s Defcon presentation, Maselewski made his final statement to WIRED, defending himself against cheating allegations in the Diablo speedrunning community. Maselewski emphasized that those accusing him of cheating lack a complete understanding of the complexities involved in Diablo. He firmly stated, “Dwango is out to tell a story. Did I cheat? No. But the truth or falsehood is irrelevant now, as some individuals have grown weary of the exploration journey, and the narrative has already been set.”
When WIRED contacted the Guinness Book of World Records regarding Maselewski’s record, the response received was noncommittal, stating a commitment to maintaining accuracy. On another speedrun record-keeping site, Speed Demos Archive (SDA), an administrator known as “ktwo” expressed openness to Cecil’s evidence. Ktwo informed WIRED that SDA had not reached a final decision and was awaiting Maselewski’s explanation.
The situation does not bode well for groobo. Ktwo stated, “The staff has reached a preliminary decision based on the available data. We agree that the analysis raises doubts about the validity of the run, which must be clarified. Otherwise, the run will be removed from SDA. Discussions are ongoing with the runner, and a final ruling will be made post deliberation.”
Cecil’s involvement in scrutinizing gaming records dates back to 2017 when he collaborated with speedrunner Eric “Omnigamer” Koziel to investigate a record set by Todd Rogers in the game Dragster. Koziel’s book on speedrunning prompted a reevaluation of Rogers’ 35-year-old record time of 5.51 seconds. Reverse engineering the game revealed discrepancies in Rogers’ techniques, leading to the eventual debunking of his record.
Koziel clarified, “Our aim was not to accuse anyone of cheating but to uncover the truth.” Cecil and Koziel then developed a tool-assisted speedrun using TASbot on an authentic Atari 2600, demonstrating that Rogers’ claimed time was unachievable. Despite Rogers’ objections, Twin Galaxies removed all his records, and Guinness revoked his world record for “longest-standing video game record.”
In response to these actions, Rogers, while disagreeing with the decision, commended the authorities for their strict anti-cheating stance in a detailed Facebook post.