Oops! This pro Valorant team were forced to forfeit a tournament match because one of them couldn't stop playing Honkai: Star Rail

Pom-Pom standing outside the gacha train in Honkai: Star Rail

(Image credit: HoYoverse)

I gotta tell you, the Honkai: Star Rail brain rot is real. I've spent a good chunk of time playing it since it came out, and I even downloaded the damn thing on my phone so I could quickly pop in while travelling or in bed. Thankfully, it's not quite eaten into my day-to-day adult responsibilities yet—but the same can't be said for pro Valorant team Ghost Commandos.

Honkai: Star Rail guides

Honkai: Star Rail Silver Wolf — (Image credit: Tyler C. / HoYoverse)

Honkai: Star Rail codes: Redeem for free currency
Trailblaze EXP farming: Easy ways to level up
Trailblazer builds: Strengthen your main character up
March 7th builds: Power up the pink archer
Dan Heng builds: Sharpen that spear

As reported by GamesRadar, the team were forced to forfeit a match during the second split of the Challengers League in Taiwan and Hong Kong. The culprit? According to reporter Seulgi, one of their teammates had apparently failed to install Valorant's tournament client in time for their game against S2 Esports, all because they were "too busy" playing HoYoverse's space RPG. Honestly, kind of a mood.

Ghost Commandos came back the next day on May 3 to play against ROA, though they unfortunately lost. Been spending too much time grinding Stellar Jade to pull on Honkai's banners and not enough time in the aim lab, perhaps?

You'd think fans would be mad over such a big blunder from Ghost Commandos, but most seemed to understand and appreciate how tight a grip Honkai: Star Rail has on the masses right now. A reply to Seulgi's tweet joked that the teammate was "too busy simping on virtual waifus." Even other Valorant professionals shared their sympathies—former banned player Risorah said "I don't blame them," while player and coach Fayde simply replied: "Understandable."

Replies to Seulgi's tweet regarding GCS having to forfeit their Valorant match. — (Image credit: Twitter)

Even if I didn't feel the Honkai death grip (which I do), there are millions of other players out there who could probably silently nod their heads and go "Yeah, I get it." The game managed to amass over 20 million downloads on its first day, surpassing Genshin Impact's day one download count by three million. It's been a fantastic experience so far—from sniffing around trash cans and postboxes to absolutely annihilating challenge content with nothing but a girl and her giant robot. Let's just hope Ghost Commandos shifts its focus back to Valorant for a little bit first, eh?

Mollie spent her early childhood deeply invested in games like Killer Instinct, Toontown and Audition Online, which continue to form the pillars of her personality today. She joined PC Gamer in 2020 as a news writer and now lends her expertise to write a wealth of features, guides and reviews with a dash of chaos. She can often be found causing mischief in Final Fantasy 14, using those experiences to write neat things about her favourite MMO. When she's not staring at her bunny girl she can be found sweating out rhythm games, pretending to be good at fighting games or spending far too much money at her local arcade.