A GOAT of Overwatch esports, Profit has announced his retirement
Former London Spitfire and Seoul Dynasty Overwatch star DPS Park "Profit" Joon-yeong has announced his retirement from professional play.
Consistent quality
After seven years at the top level of competition, the inaugural Overwatch League champion and Grand Finals MVP is hanging up the mouse. On social media platform Twitter, Profit thanked his former teammates and fans, stating that he "learned and experienced a lot as an esports player."
Starting out with GC Busan during OGN APEX’s season 4, Profit took the scene by storm, winning his first season at the top level with an outstanding Grand Finals performance against local rivals RunAway.
Transferring to the London Spitfire as part of the merger of the two squads Kongdoo Panthera and GC Busan, Profit continued his streak of unbeaten Grand Finals performances, winning stage 1 and eventually the championship during the inaugural season with one of the scene's most remembered Grand Finals performances against the Philadelphia Fusion.
After a mediocre second season for the Spitfire during the GOAT's composition era, he still showed strong performances on various heroes, demonstrating his flexibility by playing a great Brigitte for the team.
With the Spitfire reevaluating its roster-building strategy in season 3, the South Korean joined his home country's franchise, the Seoul Dynasty, helping lift the franchise to its first and only Grand Finals, losing to the San Francisco Shock in a close 4-2 series.
He would remain the Dynasty’s franchise player for the remaining three seasons, remaining the reliable star player for the team, even scoring a Role Stars title in season 5 and winning the franchise's only stage title in the Eastern region.
Playoffs Profit
During his career, Profit tended to perform when it mattered the most, being in contention for the best player on the server during each Grand Final he participated in, with fans eventually coining the term Playoffs Profit for his ability to stand out in high-pressure situations.
"To me, being a pro gamer means always doing well on stage. It comes with a lot of pressure, but it’s also the reason I decided to take on this career, since playing in big tournaments is always incredibly enjoyable. My goal as a pro is to always be victorious at the end." Profit said in an interview after his team’s victory at the Barclays Centre in 2018.
Surmising his performance back then, he said, "I think I showed everything I had during playoffs." For many fans, Profit has been the front-runner in the GOAT conversation in the Overwatch esports scene, staying consistently in the top 5 conversations for his role each season.
As the first player in OWL, Profit cracked the 10,000 elimination barrier and ended his career with over 7,000 total final blows, over 1000 ahead of rival Lee "Carpe" Jae-hyeok and season 3 MVP Kim "Fleta" Byung-sun.
With the death of the Overwatch League and a different economic reality in its new system, the Overwatch Championship series, many players have openly talked about the possibility of retirement amid uncertainty about the sustainability of a professional career.
