Just as sexual allegations continue to rock the entertainment industry, a new report concerning the video game industry likewise caught the attention of gamers worldwide.
Jess Cliffe, the cocreator of Counter-Strike, was reportedly arrested under the suspicion of sexual exploitation of a child.
According to sources, KIRO-7, an affiliate of Seattle ABC, published a report that Cliffe was booked into King County Jail but charges have yet to be filed. The bail hearing was supposedly scheduled on Friday and a bond has yet to be declared by authorities along with other relevant details regarding his arrest.
Making It Big
Cliffe cocreated the globally popular team-based shooter together with Minh Le. The duo was reportedly hired by Valve during the development of the popular mod for Half-Life. The game was quite popular among LAN players in general until it was eventually taken online after several upgrades.
The current version of the game is Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is one of the biggest online shooters being played all over the world, according to analysts. A source noted that the game recorded over 637,000 concurrent players online recently.
Other games that he worked on include Half-Life 2, Left 4 Dead 2, Portal 2, and Team Fortress 2. He likewise voiced the famous lines in the original mod that announced "Counter-Terrorists Win," "The bomb has been planted," and "Terrorists Win."
Employment Status With Valve
According to a spokesperson for Valve, Jess Cliffe is currently suspended from work. It is unknown if his employment will continue once details regarding his arrest are officially confirmed.
"We are still learning details of what actually happened," the company stated. "Reports suggest he has been arrested for a felony offense. As such we have suspended his employment until we know more," the firm added. He was previously arrested back in 2013 in Seattle over assault claims, which was then later dismissed.
Currently, the authorities have not shared further information about the case. It was not confirmed if an actual child was endangered due to his actions.
Counter-Strike Development
After further development of the original mod, Valve officially released Counter-Strike as a standalone title by the year 2000. Post-launch support and improvements continued until its latest version. Jess Cliffe continued to work for the company while Minh Le finally left in 2006.
State Legislation Details
Meanwhile, according to the state legislature in Washington, sexual exploitation of children can include elements of commercial sexual abuse of a minor or 'depictions of minors engaged in the sexually explicit content,' such as creation, distribution or possession of depictions of child pornography.
