Following the Zowie Extremesland 2018 controversy, where OpTic India’s Nikhil ‘forsaken’ Kumawat was convicted of cheating and the team disqualified from the tournament, OpTic Gaming’s international development director Jesal Parekh had issued a statement stating that the rest of the team had no knowledge of forsaken’s actions.
Talking to HLTV.org, Jesal Parekh said,
“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. It is unfair for everyone 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.”
Soon after, the Official Handle of Optic India tweeted the following:
— OpTic India (@OpTicIndia) October 19, 2018
OpTic India had a number of prominent wins in the bag, including the Fall Finale of the ESL India Premiership, fast becoming the dominant team in the country’s esports scene. However, following a minor hitch in the match against Revolution in the finals of the Zowie Extremesland 2018, the admin panel found proof of the use of a “suspicious program”, which turned out to be a hack. The event lead to a uproar in the CSGO pro scene, as many professional players came out to comment on the incident.
Shortly after issuing the statement, OpTic India’s Twitter stated that they will be terminating the contract of all the players while trying to pursue “new opportunities with other competitive options”.
It is indeed a sad day for Indian Counter Strike fans, and even more so for OpTic India fans, who expected the team to put up a decent performance at international events.