Tournament admins found a player for Optic India using cheats on LAN at the Intel Zowie Extremesland tournament. Optic recently ventured into international teams when they picked up an Indian squad. The decision was a means of expanding the organisations reach beyond their primary Counterstrike team. The player caught cheating on LAN, Forsaken has been accused of cheating in the past.

Forsaken caught cheating on LAN

Intel Zowie Extremesland is the biggest opportunity for Optic India till date. The team had a chance to prove themselves against better teams. Even if they had poor results, they would still gain valuable experience from the tournament. The reality was quite different as the Indian community had to face embarrassment due to one player.

Optic gaming lost their first match to Frostfire on Day 1 of the tournament. On Day 2, Optic India was up against CrazyGuy’s Team Revolution in a best of Three elimination match. During the first map, Cache, the admins paused the game. Multiple admins would then go forth and huddle around Forsaken’s PC.

Something’s seriously off during the OptiC India vs Revolution game. We’re not sure what it is but stay tuned for updates… 😬 #eXTREMESLAND2018 pic.twitter.com/ZcDxagLOAh — CSGO2ASIA (@CSGO2ASIA) October 19, 2018

The admins were notified via the tournament anti-cheat software, B5 platform anti-cheat. Forsaken initially refused to allow the admins a peek at his Computer. The admins wanted him to alt-tab and allow them to view if he had any programs running in the background. The admins asserted their right to check his computer and any background programs as well.

forsaken was trying to refuse the referee’s check #eXTREMESLAND2018

via Weibo@alex卞正伟 pic.twitter.com/gC5yn005n5 — 辛味。 (@liuxinwei0102) October 19, 2018

It was at this moment that Forsaken made a move to close and delete the suspicious program in use. However, this is 2018 and the admins were able to recover the said files. On attempting to execute the program, however, they were unable to do so. However, the actions of the player combined with the anti-cheat software trigger were more than enough for the admins to disqualify Optic India from the tournament.

Nikhil ‘Forsaken’ Kumawat released from Optic India

There was little doubt that Forsaken’s time on Optic India, as well as his International career, were over. There is no place for a cheater in esports. Game developers have taken harsh actions against cheaters in the past. A cheater creates a very unfair environment not only to their opponents but his teammates as well.

In a statement to HLTV, OpTic Gaming International Development Director Jesal Parekh confirms that Forsaken is no longer with the team. The other players n the team had no knowledge of his actions. For the teammates, this is a huge blow as it casts into doubt their past achievements as well.

The player caught with hacks has been released from the organisation, we do not tolerate anything like this. We want to apologize to all the other teams and organizations involved. We also want to apologize to our country and to the fans who have supported us. This will be a big setback for the country, and it is really unfortunate that one selfish person is capable of causing this. An official statement will be released soon by the organization, but I want to make it very clear that the other four players had no knowledge of this and would never have agreed to even play if there was even the slightest hint of it.

For many Indian aspiring professionals, Nikhil Kumawat’s actions are not a surprise. Several members from the community have repeatedly voiced their opinion that Forsaken uses cheats in-game.

A history of Cheating

This is not the first time the word ‘cheating’ has found an association with Nikhil ‘Forsaken’ Kumawat. The player has a history of cheating accusations due to suspicious plays in local tournaments.

There are several professional players from the region who had their doubts about his talent. Former Entity Gaming player Tejas Sawant has accused Forsaken of hacking since 2016.

It has been confirmed by Extremesland Officials that @OpTicIndia player ‘foresaken’ has been caught with hacks on his PC. The team has been dismissed from the tournament immediately and the player will be sent home on the next flight. No further statements from OptiC at this time — CSGO2ASIA (@CSGO2ASIA) October 19, 2018

Tyloo Player BnTeT mentions that he had a suspicion of Forsaken’s cheats. Many players knew of Forsaken’s sketchy plays. However, anti-cheat platforms like FaceIT and SoStrong have been unable to detect Forsaken’s hacks.

lol forsaken from optic india finally caught cheat on LAN, most of us already knkw that he is cheating from sostronk next, gg so embarrassing — Hansel Ferdinand (@BnTeTCSGO) October 19, 2018

Here is another clip of the player clearly using cheats in his gameplay.

The player did receive a ban earlier but he was cleared by ESIC and ESL India upon further investigation. For Optic Gaming’s part, it is indeed a big mistake if the organisation was unable to secure the best clean talent from the region.

Optic India recently won multiple tournaments including the Indian Qualifier for Extremesland. For now, Optic Gaming has released Forsaken from its roster.