ENVY release canezerra after Riot Games issues 12 month hardware ban

This Thursday, April 16, ENVY, a club promoted to VCT Americas in late 2025 via Ascension, announced the sudden and immediate end of their collaboration with Alex "canezerra" Banyasz. In its statement, the North American organization explains that the 17-year-old player "has received a 12-month hardware ban from Riot Games." Still, according to the same post, the publisher "found multiple violations of their Terms of Service" and this ban was in no way related to canezerra being a cheater.

The American player, who was waiting to turn 18 to play in VCT, has therefore been released by the club and will have to wait until April 17, 2027, to return to official Riot Games competition and possibly begin his Tier 1 journey. Winner of Ascension with ENVY, he was waiting for his opportunity. He will now have to be patient for another year because "the scope of the ban prohibits him from playing, competing, streaming, or engaging in any promotional activity across all Riot titles."

In a statement posted on his X profile alongside ENVY’s, he explains that "I made a serious mistake and said things I deeply regret. There’s no excuse for it." It is therefore impossible at this stage to know the exact reason for the ban, but canezerra shares a few details in his post. "I’ve acted immaturely," he says, referring to his time spent in ranked on VALORANT, before adding in the same sentence that this ban "is a clear wake-up call that I need to be better."

A late realization, but a realization nonetheless for the player, who therefore loses his professional contract as well as the ability to play and stream Riot Games’ FPS, even though in 2026 he had "started taking streaming seriously, putting in around 200 hours a month when I’m not travelling." He concludes this part by adding that he has "always try to be entertaining, but I got lost and understand that doesn’t excuse what I said."

Finally, in conclusion, and as reflected throughout his full statement, canezerra takes responsibility for his actions and his sanction, adding that he will "use this time to grow and make sure it never happens again." He ends his post by saying that he still loves VALORANT and that he will do everything to "coming back the right way".