PUBG pro-players have been banned from competitive, including PEL participants

Commencing on December 19th, 2018, PUBG Esports Team has conducted a global investigation on all the currently active professional PUBG players to uncover any potential in-game bans related to the use of unauthorized programs on their accounts. To compile a list of active pro players worldwide, they gathered information on the players who competed in PGI and the most recent global and local top-tier competitive events.

Due to the impending schedule of the NPL Preseason, PUBG Esports Team first concluded and announced the suspension on four North American players and their teams on December 31st. You can find the full announcement on official PUBG Esports Twitter.

PUBG Esports Team continued investigation on the players in other regions revealed that total of ten players have been banned in-game due to the detected use of an unauthorized software during a game of PUBG. The full list of banned players are below:

  • • “Avalon”
  • • “Smitty”
  • • “Papaya”
  • • “Cabecao”
  • • “TEXQS”
  • • “S1D” 
  • • “swalker” 
  • • “zuppaa”  
  • • “Houlow” 
  • • “sezk0” 

PUBG Esports Team were able to verify with concrete evidence that no ban was falsely imposed due to a technical or human error. PUBG Esports Team also performed a thorough review of the system logs to search for any evidence that would suggest any of the banned accounts had either been hijacked or borrowed by somebody else when an unauthorized program was apparently used. PUBG Esports Team found no such evidence.

In addition, the logs revealed that among the ten players whose accounts have been banned, six of them have utilized an unauthorized program in at least one professional game of PUBG. The list of this subset of players are below:

  • • “Papaya” 
  • • “Cabecao” 
  • • “swalker” 
  • • “zuppaa”  
  • •  “Houlow” 
  • •  “sezk0” 

Upon further investigation of the teams to which the above four players belong, PUBG Esports Team discovered that two other players on Sans domicile fixe, “THZ” and “Fr_Steph”, were in full knowledge of their teammate’s cheating activities during PEL Qualifiers.

Ruling

“Avalon”, “Smitty”, “TEXQS”, and “S1D”, who have used an unauthorized program in public games but not in any professional setting, PUBG Esports Team are issuing a two-year suspension from all competitive play commencing on January 7th, 2019.

Although the minimum suspension period for the use of an unauthorized program in-game is one year, the nature of the particular program that was used suggests that its usage can severely damage the integrity of the game in an insidious manner. Due to the relatively more disruptive intent that is inherent in the usage of such a program, PUBG Esports Team are issuing a suspension that is significantly longer than the minimum.

For “Papaya”, “Cabecao”, “swalker”, “zuppaa”, “Houlow”, and “sezk0”, who have used an unauthorized program not only in public games but also in professional matches, PUBG Esports Team are issuing a three-year suspension from all competitive player commencing on January 7th, 2019.

Cheating in a professional competition is one of the least sportsmanlike behavior that a pro player can exhibit, so PUBG Esports Team are issuing one of the severest penalties they have ever issued, in order to match zero tolerance policy on cheating. They are also working with third-party tournament organizers to block any prize winnings from being awarded to these suspended players.

For “THZ”and “Fr_Steph”, PUBG Esports Team are also levying a three-year suspension from all competitive play commencing on January 7th, 2019. PUBG Esports Team believe that condoning the cheating activities of teammates to share the common benefit should be as severely punished as performing the activities itself.

Any player affected by an esports suspension due to the usage of an unauthorized program will also lose the status as a PUBG Partner.

Implications for PEL

Sans domicile fixe will lose its Contenders League spot because its players either directly cheated or condoned cheating during PEL Qualifiers. However, the organization will be permitted to join any subsequent events with an entirely new roster, since PUBG Esports Team have no suspicion the organization was aware of the cheating activities by the players. There will be an additional EU West seed from Contenders League Qualifiers to replace the spot previously earned by Sans domicile fixe.

Red Diamonds will retain their PEL spot only if they replace S1D with another player. PUBG Esports Team have no knowledge that S1D or any other team member has used any unauthorized program during PEL Qualifiers.

Pittsburgh Knights will retain their PEL spot only if they replace TEXQS with another player. Pittsburgh Knights did not play in PEL Qualifiers because they were directly invited, and cometee have no knowledge that any of their players used an unauthorized program in any professional match.

To ensure that cometee have sufficient time to review all Contenders League participants, Contenders League Qualifiers dates will be postponed by one week.

Relevant Rules

Pro players found to have been banned in-game due to the use of unauthorized programs are suspended from competitive play for a minimum of one year to a maximum of a lifetime.

Pro players found to have cheated in a professional game will be suspended from competitive play for a minimum of three years to a maximum of a lifetime.

Any organization or team member in full knowledge of the cheating activities of any of their team players will receive a penalty that is equivalent to that of the players who has directly engaged in those cheating activities.

All esports suspensions begin on the date of completion of an official league investigation.

Comprehensive guidelines for a global penalty system will be released at a later date.

Disclaimer

The list of suspended players in this announcement is by no means exhaustive. Because PUBG Esports Team were only able to check the major competitions that took place most recently in each region, the scope of investigation did not include relatively older or lower tier events. Furthermore, not every account owned by every pro player could be reviewed, due to incompleteness or inaccuracies in records, as the majority of events throughout 2018 were hosted by external organizers.

However, any player who is not receiving a penalty right now but has a record of an unauthorized program usage in any of their accounts will effectively be blocked from entering any officially recognized PUBG esports competition in the future. For all upcoming esports competitions, PUBG Esports Team will make it mandatory for all players to go through a background check on all accounts they own, from which PUBG Esports Team will uncover any ban records to determine the appropriate esports suspensions.