Infamous CSGO cheater forsaken free to compete again as ESIC ban ends

Nikhil ‘forsaken⁠’ Kumawat’s five-year competitive ban from CS:GO events has ended and the Indian player can now play in esports tournaments again.

Five years ago, on October 24, 2018, the Esports Integrity Coalition banned forsaken from “all esports-related activity for or with any ESIC member organisation.” The Indian CS:GO player was caught playing with a cheat program at the eXTREMESLAND Asia Finals, and after an investigation from ESL, he was also found to have cheated at the India Premiership Fall Finale.

His team, OpTic India, was disqualified from eXTREMESLAND 2018 and promptly fired the player following the ban and investigation. forsaken also deleted his social media accounts soon after. He later spoke about his ban in an interview with AFK Gaming and released a statement about the situation.

“If I could go back, I would probably delete the day I first played Counter-Strike – nothing good has happened to me since the day I first played that game. I am extremely sorry to my teammates, OpTic management and the people who always put their trust in me. I feel guilty of stealing away the opportunities from my teammates. Each one was extremely talented and I have jeopardized their chances of being where they deserve,” Kumawat said.

Now, his ban from competitive events has been run out for ESIC-member events and the Indian player can return to competitive play. However, because of Valve’s new RMR eligibility guidelines implemented in 2021, forsaken cannot play in developer-sponsored events until after September 21, 2024.

forsaken allowed to return to competitive CS:GO as ban expires

In the wake of his ban, forsaken has had multiple videos come out explaining his rise as a competitor and fall as a cheater. He has also become somewhat of a meme in the esports community thanks to his name for the cheat he installed on the tournament computer, “word.exe,” and how blatant his cheating was.

Since his statement about the ban was released, CS:GO esports fans have not heard from the former Indian pro.

He has been in retirement since his ban and is not expected to return to competitive play in the newly released CS2.