Stream Sniping Allegations Proven True... KRAFTON Belatedly Identifies Region

Apology was more detailed than official announcement; method and targeted team came directly from the players

Stream Sniping Allegations Proven True... KRAFTON Belatedly Identifies Region and Players Involved

Doohyun "Biit" Lee [email protected] Sep 19, 2026 Korean (한국어) KO Add us on

KRAFTON has excluded Vietnamese (VIE) participants 'HIMASS' and 'TANVUU' from the remaining matches of 'PUBG Asia Stars 2026'. The two participants admitted to receiving external game information through viewer chat during the matches. However, it was not tournament organizer KRAFTON, but rather the sanctioned players themselves who provided specific details of what transpired.

The controversy surfaced following the Day 1 matches held on September 17. In its initial announcement, KRAFTON stated, "We sincerely apologize for causing concern and inconvenience regarding fairness during tournament operations," and outlined measures to be implemented starting from Day 2: roster adjustments for two players, applying a stream delay to major broadcasts, re-issuing operational guidelines to participants, and strengthening match monitoring.

The initial announcement contained no details about what happened or in which match. Neither the region, the participants, nor the actions in question were specified. The subject of the action was described in a single line: "Roster adjustment for certain region players (2 players)." It did not even clarify whether a rule violation had been confirmed or whether the adjustment was a sanction or a simple substitution. All that could be discerned from the announcement alone was that two individuals were being removed.

The apology statements issued by the two participants regarding the same matter told a different story. They wrote that they had live chat open on a secondary monitor to communicate with viewers during matches, and received some external game information while reading the chat. The apologies revealed that both players had already acknowledged this, and even noted that the opposing team affected was Team Korea—specifically player 'KOR_SOOPI'.

Neither the channel through which the action occurred nor the affected opponent was included in the organizer's notice; they were present only in the sanctioned players' apology. While the tournament host failed to disclose the details of the fairness issue, the parties responsible filled that void.

It was only in a second announcement, posted after continued criticism from users, that KRAFTON specified the region and participants involved. It stated, "To ensure fair competition, we have decided to exclude VIE region participants HIMASS and TANVUU from the remaining matches of PUBG Asia Stars."

Even then, the nature of the issue remained vaguely framed as "matters raised after Day 1 matches concerning fairness and the use of external information." Neither announcement mentioned whether the streaming setup with open viewer chat was at fault or how the information was transmitted. Whether a violation was definitively confirmed was also left unresolved.

KRAFTON added, "This does not mean the matter is concluded," and that it "plans to conduct further investigations based on overall match data and verifiable records." While the involved parties admitted to their actions, the tournament organizer postponed its ruling.

While identification was delayed, suspicion spread across the entire tournament. Because the initial notice simply stated "certain regions," participants from the remaining five unmentioned regions were placed under the same shadow without explanation. Prompt identification serves not only to isolate the targets of sanctions, but also to clear the remaining participants from controversy.

In their apology, the two participants wrote, "At the time of the match, we understood that this was not prohibited by tournament rules, and prior to the tournament, there were no specific guidelines or rules addressing this situation." Their explanation was that while they had no intention of gaining an unfair advantage, their actions may have inadvertently affected other teams.

The tournament management acknowledged the same point. In its second announcement, KRAFTON stated, "It is the management's responsibility that operational standards for ensuring fairness were not sufficiently detailed," adding, "We take very seriously the fact that this caused concerns regarding fairness." The first notice also included the sentence, "This is an area that the management should have thoroughly checked and prepared for in advance." In effect, an act for which no prohibitory rule existed became grounds for sanctions midway through the tournament.

The implementation of a stream delay points to the same issue. KRAFTON listed this as a new measure to be applied starting from Day 2, implying that Day 1 matches were broadcast without any delay mechanism. PUBG Asia Stars is a tournament where regional representative streamers broadcast their own perspectives, and participants are able to keep their viewer chats open. Essentially, the channel admitted to by the two players remained wide open on the first day.

In the tournament, six Asian regions compete with eight-player rosters comprising pro players, partners, and streamers over three days across nine events, with final rankings determined by cumulative points. Because Day 1 results count toward the final standings, simply excluding players from remaining matches does not undo the outcome of completed games. KRAFTON made no mention of how the Day 1 rankings would be handled in either notice.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated with the help of AI. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom. [Read Original]

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Doohyun "Biit" Lee

[email protected]