Custa announces retirement from competitive Overwatch
Scott “Custa” Kennedy has announced his retirement from the Overwatch League. The announcement came in the form of a humorous video posted by the Los Angeles Valiant, which the Australian quickly followed up with a heartfelt TwitLonger published earlier today.
“This isn’t going to be the end of me yet—I’ll be around,” said Custa in his video announcement. “Don’t you worry about that. But for my days as a player, it’s over.” In his written statement, Custa made it clear that his reasons for retiring had been “a long time coming,” and had nothing to do with the Valiant, whom he praised as a positive force throughout his four years as an Overwatch pro.
After a brief stint with the Dallas Fuel, Custa joined the LA Valiant in April 2018, helping lead his new team to the semi-finals in the first-ever OWL playoffs. Over the past year, however, Custa spent most of his time on the Valiant’s bench, with the team’s results seeing a significant slide during the 2019 season.
Custa’s retirement is the third high-profile player retirement in the OWL this week. On December 6, Kim “Pine” Do-hyeon announced his retirement from the New York Excelsior’s competitive squad, while former Houston Outlaws DPS Jacob “JAKE” Lyon announced his exit from competitive play on December 5.
The Big Boss is retiring. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank @tf2pine for everything he's done for NYXL.
— NYXL (@NYXL) December 6, 2019
We're excited to announce that he'll continue to be part of our family as a streamer with @andbox_official. #EverUpward pic.twitter.com/AZjnkblRj2
Retirement
— Jake (@jakeow) December 7, 2019
Read: https://t.co/cKnsGjiCvt
Compared to other esports, player retirement has been a relatively common phenomenon in the Overwatch League, with fan-favorites such as Daniel “dafran” Francesca and Joon-seong “Asher” Choi announcing their retirements earlier this year. Furthermore, some behind-the-scenes figures, such as Washington Justice Assistant General Manager Kate Mitchell, have also left the scene after relatively short stints in the OWL.
These prominent retirements highlight the stress and burnout experienced by many OWL figureheads—a tension that is sure to be exacerbated by the OWL’s planned rollout of a traveling roadshow-type season structure that will keep players on the road for a large part of the season.
As for Custa, the Aussie Overwatch legend showed no sign of burnout in his announcement video, instead expressing excitement for the next stage of his career. He’ll be streaming on his Twitch channel later today to answer any and all questions that fans might have about his retirement.
Update:
Shortly after this report came out, the OWL announced that Custa and JAKE will be joining the league’s broadcast talent team in 2020. Custa will be part of the analyst desk, while JAKE will cast matches.
Their time on stage may have come to an end, but their story with OWL has only just begun!
— Overwatch League (@overwatchleague) December 12, 2019
We are so happy to announce that @Custa & @jakeow will be joining our team in #OWL2020
Full story ➡ https://t.co/Vhvb0TOgnA pic.twitter.com/f0BgWXbEZV
Image via LA Valiant | YouTube