Indian esports team “We Back” watched their celebration turn into a nightmare this week. The squad had just secured their spot in the PUBG Mobile Global Championship 2025 when tournament officials busted two of their players for hacking.
“We Back” Caught Hacking, Banned From All PUBG Mobile Tournaments
“We Back” was riding high after finishing second in the 2025 PMNC Philippines tournament. The team, featuring players KALEROG, JATTLYF, MICKEY, and INSANE, had earned their ticket to the big leagues through the Southeast Asia qualifiers.
But that celebration didn’t last long.
Tournament officials caught MICKEY and INSANE using hacks during competition. The punishment? Brutal, but fair. They banned both players from all PUBG Mobile tournaments for three years (until August 2028). The cheating scandal also eliminated the entire “We Back” team from competition, crushing their PMGC 2025 dreams before they even started.
Repercussions on the Indian Esports Scene
This scandal hits especially hard because Indian esports is still recovering from the Forsaken cheating controversy. Back in 2018, Counter-Strike player Nikhil “Forsaken” Kumawat was caught using an aimbot cheat at the eXTREMESLAND 2018 Finals in Shanghai.
That scandal nearly killed the Indian CS:GO scene and damaged the reputation of Indian esports players internationally. Now, just as the scene was starting to rebuild credibility in the global esports scene, this PUBG Mobile cheating incident brings back all those painful memories.
However, on the flip side, we are still making waves in the global esports scene. Ved “Beelzeboy” Bamb won the Pokemon GO World Championships 2025, becoming the first Indian to claim an esports world title. The 21-year-old from India defeated Spain’s P4T0M4N in a thrilling 3-2 Grand Final in Anaheim, taking home $20,000 and making history for Indian esports.
S8UL Esports is representing India at the Esports World Cup (EWC), while Global Esports continues to fly the Indian flag in the Valorant Champions Tour franchise league.
These achievements show that despite the setbacks, Indian esports talent is capable of competing and winning at the highest level. It makes incidents like the “We Back” cheating scandal all the more frustrating, when Indian players prove they can win legitimately on the world stage, cheating scandals undermine everyone’s hard work.
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