QuakeCon will be my last professional event.

I'm a dinosaur. A professional gaming dinosaur. Back in the spring of 2000 I got hooked on the UT99 demo and in September, I went to an event in Arizona, which lead me to an event in New York, which lead me to Korea, where I won my first event. The rest is a blur of hundreds of gaming events across UT99, CS, PK, Q4, Q3, and QuakeLive, and that doesn't even count the events I went to as a CGS manager and the shows I got a chance to go to as an emcee or a guest. And boy has it been a fun ride.

However, I'm getting older, much older. I'd say 10 years is a pretty good run. My accolades are basically average. Usually a top 5-12 finisher in every game I've played. I can consistently say I was one of the top 5-16 players in the world, at any game I played, at any time. I think that is something to hold your head up high about considering the tens of thousands of people I've competed against. But now I have a career, which I've been persuing since CGS died, and there are lots of great opportunities for me to expand myself.

Over the last year I've been hesitant to do exactly that, hoping and waiting for something else to come up in gaming. But apparently a pioneer in product endorsements, brand development, and professional gaming with 10 years of experience, isn't qualified enough, or can't find a job in the eSport industry. I'm not waving the white flag by any means, but I am a realist and it's time to "grow up" as your average non-gaming adult would say. My resume will always be available to legit eSport industry job offers, so I'm hoping to be around, just behind the scenes rather than in the scene.

Does this mean I'm done with gaming in general? No. I will always be involved, some how, some way, but I will not be able to dedicate DAYS of playtime preparing for events anymore, I will no longer consider myself "pro." Any results, will be simply off natural raw skill rather than dedicated time.

I have made SO many friends over the last decade, I can't even begin to explain how emotional I get just thinking about it. So many memories. And for now, I'll hold those in until is actually time to say good bye.

So for now, I'm still "pro" and I'm still planning on kicking ass at QuakeCon, make no mistake. But it will be the end of an era.....

Source: complexity gaming