After 10 years of playing League of Legends professionally with teams like TSM, FlyQuest, and finally, Dignitas, veteran jungler Santorin has officially retired.
Many gamers aspire to compete on the professional stage, and Santorin was no different; the Danish star’s dreams became a reality when he was signed to his first esports team in 2013, Intellectual Playground.
All dreams eventually end though, and after a decade on the pro stage, Santorin announced his retirement from competitive League on Twitter today, Oct. 8.
Although this shocked many LCS fans, the jungler’s decision seems to have been quite a long time coming. In his post, Santorin revealed the many ups and downs he’s experienced over the years as a pro player, from missing his family and fiance to being unable to attend his grandfather’s funeral and his health struggles.
Many League pros who’ve retired in the past year, like Bjergsen and Danny, also experienced something similar where they had to choose between their personal and professional lives or where the mental burden of being a professional esports player has become too much and taken a toll on their lives.
Santorin is now at a point where he values family and friendships more and feels like he can’t perform his best in League pro play because that would mean leaving them behind, which is something “[he] just can’t do anymore.”
Even though the 26-year-old has experienced several lows in his career, there have been many highlights as well, such as being able to compete at the top level with amazing teams like TSM, FlyQuest, and Dignitas, playing 602 pro games across his entire career, and even being crowned rookie of the split when he first entered the NA competitive scene with TSM all the way back in the 2015 LCS season.
While we won’t see him competing on the pro stage anymore, Santorin will transition to streaming full-time where he still expects to play League and other esports titles.
