Esports athletes tend to retire young and this is a phenomenon that many have pondered over the years. Why is everyone who is video gaming for a life calling it quits so early on? If you were a betting man at Axecasino, you would probably not want to put your money on the players that are becoming less apt at what they do. However, multiple studies have disproved this claim. There is nothing to suggest that reaction time in the mid-20s is diminishing.
In fact, this claim has been disproven. However, the passion that drove teenagers to excel at a video game may be dying. There are different reasons for why esports players retire following reaching the pinnacle of their careers. Winning The International Dota 2 and bagging $40 million is definitely one of the reasons that can make a player look at things a little more objectively and ask themselves – is there anything left to achieve and should I just retire?
Many choose to do so. Others say they have loftier ambitions. Many talented and intelligent esports players have called it quits early because they felt like they had a higher calling to answer to. Some go back to school, others become coaches to teams, third just start streaming and they are having a lot of great time teaching others the insides of video gaming as a pro.
Mentality of a Gamer Matters to Success
Reaction time seems to have very little to play in it. It’s more of a mental setting, many experts agree. For a player who has conquered it all, they may be less pushy in trying to win the next title, which is not what a new team member who has all the desire to bag the seven-figure prize pool may be following. This is why some players just realize that they are not really into it anymore.
Of course, there is a real chance that an esports player may retire because they have not made it and it’s become unsustainable to just play games. Thankfully, there are many ways to sustain your esports career these days, especially if you are a good entertainer on Twitch. There are many ways to still do what you enjoy but take the pressure off. Some players do admit that the pressure often turns out to be a little too much and in the end, it’s better to just do gaming as a hobby rather than as a profession.
For example, when Overwatch was first announced, the teams were playing back-to-back games which was a lot of pressure given the fact that each team played in a unique way and style and that made it necessary for those involved to adjust their gameplay on a short notice. Nevertheless, people retire from gaming because they just feel like it, and more importantly – because they can.
Gamers are very flexible when it comes to when they can pull the plug and say enough is enough. It sometimes has to do with their reflexes getting slower or their motivation disappearing, but most of the time, it’s a personal, mature choice.