Diablo Hackers Expose Speedrun Scandal
For years, Maciej “Groobo” Maselewski, who has been at the top of the Diablo speedrun world, has been admired by gamers for his record run of 3 minutes and 12 seconds. However, a group of hackers and speedrunners questioned the accuracy of this run and launched a detailed investigation. In the process, a series of analyses based on the in-game randomization (RNG) system revealed that this record was created by impossible chance and manipulation.
How Was the Speedrun Proven to Be a Fake?
The team conducting the investigation developed a special tool by deciphering Diablo’s codes to analyze the game’s random map generation system. This tool scanned the game’s 2.2 billion possible RNG seeds to find the dungeon structure used in Groobo’s run. However, the scans did not find a map containing the item called Naj’s Puzzler that Groobo obtained.
The team went even further, finding that Groobo’s run was made up of footage from multiple different game saves — a “splicing” method that is considered a major violation in the speedrunning community. It was also determined that different versions of the game were used for some parts of the run, which caused inconsistencies between the saves.
Groobo’s record had a huge impact on the Diablo speedrunning community since 2009. However, the scandal has caused disappointment in the community. “The fact that this record was fake has completely destroyed the enthusiasm for running in this category for years,” said one of the team members who led the investigation.
Speedrunning site Speed Demos Archive (SDA) declared Groobo’s record invalid after these findings. However, the record is still listed in Guinness World Records. Following this scandal, the Diablo community has started to focus on legitimate runs again. Thanks to new players and tools, records are now being achieved with verifiable RNG seeds. This incident also highlights the need for greater transparency and oversight in speedrun communities in the future.
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