Damian “Daps” Steele has retired from professional VALORANT and is stepping down from the NRG lineup, the organization announced today. Daps explained that he hasn’t enjoyed playing recently and will announce his future plans soon.
Daps is a former CS:GO pro known for his time with Gen.G before switching to VALORANT in October 2020. He was immediately signed by NRG and has been with the team since then.
NRG have been a somewhat lackluster team in VALORANT so far since they haven’t qualified for any significant tournaments. They didn’t make it into the North American First Strike tournament and didn’t qualify for VALORANT Champions Tour Masters One. NRG also failed to qualify for VCT Masters Two Reykjavik, although they did make it to the Challengers Finals.
Daps’ decision doesn’t appear to be related to the team’s performance, though. He explained that he was no longer enjoying competing.
“It’s been no secret to the people around me that I just don’t enjoy playing anymore, which was the main reason to my choice,” Daps said.
The rest of the NRG roster appears to be intact for now, but they’ll need to find a fifth player for VCT Stage Three. It’s unclear if the organization already has a replacement player in mind, but fans will likely see a new face soon.
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