Honor of Kings: Tencent confirm Thai women's national team bottom laner Tokyogurl's lifetime ban will be upheld following full investigation..

Tencent confirmed in a statement released Wednesday through local Thai media outlet that, following a comprehensive joint investigation by the company, the Thai eSports Association, and the Thai Olympic Committee, the lifetime ban on Thai women's national team Honor of Kings bottom laner Tokyogurl, will be upheld.

According to Tencent's official statement, the investigation revealed that Tokyogurl's cheating activities began before her exposure at the Southeast Asian Games last month. Throughout her eSports career, she has consistently relied on unauthorized third-party software and remote control by others to play for her.

It was verified that the player who played for Tokyogurl was Cheerio, a Thai semi-professional player who participated in the 2024 Bangkok eSports tournament.

Tokyogurl not only had third-party software installed on her phone, but also the chat application Discord.

Throughout the match, she simply mimicked the actions of Cheerio's recorded gameplay, mimicking his movements as he played for her on the phone, in an attempt to deceive the referees.

Following the release of the full investigation report, Tencent, the Thai eSports Association, and the Thai Olympic Committee unanimously decided to uphold Tokyogurl's lifetime ban, effective from the date it was implemented (December 16th).

As punishment, Cheerio will also be suspended.

Following the release of the investigation report, Tokyogurl's Hong Kong club, TALON (TLN), announced that it would uphold its decision to terminate her contract and ordered her to compensate the club for nine months of training fees, earned bonuses, and other losses.

Furthermore, Cheerio also apologized to his fans and the Thai people through his personal TikTok account.

He stated, "Over the past few weeks, I've been subjected to a massive wave of public criticism. Because I was afraid to face it and didn't know how to deal with it, I kept hoping to drag it out until people started to forget about it."

"But now, I'm overwhelmed by this immense pressure, and I finally realize that the truth will eventually come out."

"I must stand up and admit that I am the culprit behind the Tokyogurl controversy."

"For this, I sincerely apologize to everyone who has been harmed and unnecessarily blamed because of my selfish actions, and I also want to apologize to everyone who has been disappointed by me and whose image of Thai esports has been tarnished." 

"I express my deepest apologies to fans, the nation, and the international community."

"I feel ashamed and utterly humiliated by my irresponsible behaviour. This will be the most important lesson of my life, one I will forever remember, and I will ensure I never repeat the same mistake."

"I know and will humbly accept all criticism, and I am prepared to bear all responsibility for any consequences."

On the other hand, according to the Bangkok Post, unlike usual, this Honor of Kings women's tournament was actually conducted through a specially authorized and privately set-up closed online server by Tencent, the Thai eSports Association, and the Thai Olympic Committee, rather than a traditional LAN tournament.

This significantly increased the risk of cheating, allowing players to have their phones remotely controlled by others using third-party software.

Furthermore, the report added that professional eSports insiders have confirmed that due to significant issues with feel and connection, the third-party software used by Cheerio and Tokyogurl for cheating is unlikely to be Teamviewer, as rumoured online.

Incident Summary

On December 15th, during the first round of the women's Honor of Kings tournament between Thailand and Vietnam at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games), hosted by Thailand, Tokyogurl insisted on requesting permission before the match to use "settings she was more familiar with" despite being banned by the referee.

During the match, viewers and referees noticed discrepancies between the screen displayed on her phone and the actual gameplay. In some instances, even after the game had paused, her phone continued to move, prompting the referee to question her.

Unexpectedly, when questioned, Tokyogurl attributed the issue to "unknown connection problems causing severe lag," denying any cheating.

Although Thailand ultimately suffered a 0-3 defeat to Vietnam, Tokyogurl's unusual performance raised numerous suspicions.

Further contradicting her claims, Tokyogurl's performance was incredibly poor, almost as if she had never played Honor of Kings before, further fueling suspicions of cheating. 

During the match, the Thai player even gave the middle finger to the camera with a grin, seemingly showing disdain for her opponent.

The following day, Tencent, the Thai eSports Association, and the Thai Olympic Committee announced that Tokyogurl had indeed installed "unapproved third-party software" or "modified software" on her phone, and had cheated in the match. They decided to impose a lifetime ban on her, and TALON announced the immediate termination of her contract.

However, since the incident, Tokyogurl has vehemently denied any wrongdoing, claiming that a malfunction during the match caused her to suffer a panic attack and be hospitalized. She even went so far as to say, "If I really cheated, we wouldn't have lost the match," and deleted all her personal social media accounts.

As a consequence of this controversy, Thailand's spot in the finals was taken by Laos due to their withdrawal.

About Tokyogurl

Tokyogurl, 24, whose real name is Naraphat Warasin, became a professional Honor of Kings  esports player in 2024, primarily playing as a bottom laner (ADC).

Due to his resemblance in fashion style with famous Chinese female singer Sa Dingding and his looks to Lee Tae-eun, a former member of the K-pop girl group RaNia, Tokyogurl quickly gained nearly 30,000 followers across multiple social media platforms such as TikTok, Instagram, and Facebook after her debut.

In late 2024, Tokyogurl became a member of the TALON Academy team and was promoted to the main team as a stand-in next year.

During his time as a substitute, Tokyogurl's outstanding performances led to her immediate promotion to the starting bottom laner on the TALON Honor of Kings team, and he is hailed as one of the most promising rising stars in Thailand and Southeast Asia.