Two professionals received a ban in Valorant for cheating in a tournament. However, instead of complaining about it, both accept it and even admit to it. They want to quit the shooter. Whether they will return is uncertain.
Who are they? w3ak and phox are two young professionals who have performed well in smaller tournaments in Valorant. Both played for the team Athletic Strong Muscular Ragers (A.S.M.R.) and won several of the Sunday Showdowns in Valorant with this team.
In a recent tournament hosted by Nerdstreet Gamers, they secured third place with their team and were supposed to play for the professional team Echo 8 in the PAX Arena Invitational starting July 22, the first major tournament they could have participated in. Valorant itself does not yet have its own Esports league.
However, their career has already ended before it really started. Both players had previously been suspected of cheating, and this suspicion has now been confirmed. Both players received a permanent ban in Valorant.
w3ak has earned $650 in Valorant according to Liquipedia during his brief time in esports. The earnings of phox are unknown.
“I take this as a sign that it’s not for me”
What happened? After the open tournament held by Nerdstreet Gamers, phox reported that he received a permaban. His colleague w3ak then also checked his account and found that he could no longer play.
Both players then directly admitted to cheating and accepted the ban. They also announced their withdrawal from the competitive scene of Valorant, with w3ak permanently, and phox with a possible option to return.
What the players say about it: w3ak stated in a tweet quite directly that he does not want to prolong the whole matter unnecessarily and will quit (via Twitter). A little later, he even admits to never having pursued a professional career:
Honestly, I never tried to become a professional, even if I said so in a twitlonger before. I always told phox: “What will we do when we get signed? Stop cheating and then become worse? I don’t want to sign a contract and then get banned…”
w3ak on Twitter
In his longer message on twitlonger , phox talks about how he has been feeling worse lately. A friend of his has passed away, his mental state is generally not good, and he had been playing Ranked in Valorant between 12 and 15 hours a day.
All of this has led to him feeling worse. He still had fun playing Valorant, but it didn’t make him happy. It has also led to him neglecting his education, which he no longer wants:
I started to perform poorly in school and missed many of my assignments in college classes. I can’t afford to disappoint my mother, who completely supports my education […] I have grinded the hell out of this game and tried to become the best, and for a long time, that was my escape from reality. It really helped me for a long time.
Over time, however, he lost his enjoyment of it and realized that this is not what he truly wants in life. He takes the ban as a “sign that it’s not for [him]” but is still unsure if he will ever return.
His colleague w3ak previously insisted that none of their teammates knew they were cheating.
Strict ban policy at Riot
Whether the two players could return if they wanted to is doubtful. The head of Riot recently made it clear that cheaters will not receive a second chance in Valorant. This likely also applies to professionals.
The two former aspiring professionals now likely miss out on a chance to earn big money. Because even the best players from other games apparently earn more in Valorant than in their old games. Former Overwatch star sinatraa says he gets more in Valorant, even though the salary is lower.
To that end, Riot has also offered a strange opportunity for cheaters in the game. Those who cheat enough in Valorant may receive a job offer from the developers. However, this is likely more about those who program cheats than about the users of cheats, as they find vulnerabilities in the code.
