High-profile Overwatch streamer ‘Redshell,’ known for his dynamic Lucio gameplay, revealed that even more Overwatch League pros will be quitting the game during an April 29 broadcast.
The news comes after former 2019’s OWL MVP Jay ‘Sinatraa’ Won announced he was retiring from Overwatch to play Valorant for the Sentinels organization.
When asked about what he thought about Sinatraa leaving and if more pros will be following in his footsteps, Redshell revealed that it wouldn’t surprise him if a “handful” of pros jumped ship.
“It wouldn’t surprise me, that’s all I’m going to say,” he claimed, but soon found himself revealing more info that he heard. “I know for a fact that a handful of people are leaving.”
The streamer stressed that Sinatraa was simply the “first of many,” but declined to offer more specifics on who would be the next big name to switch games or retire.
“I don’t want to leak it because it’s not my place to leak it,” the support main explained, yet provided more specifics on the number of pros that will be quitting Blizzard’s hero-based FPS.
“I know for a fact at least five Overwatch League pros are leaving,” the streamer added.
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Redshell is well-known within the competitive community by both pros and analysts alike.
This lines up with what Overwatch pro Seb ‘Numlocked’ Barton said earlier in April when he claimed that “people want to get out of Overwatch League.”
“Nobody is happy with what Blizzard is doing,” the British tank player revealed, and stressed that unless there were big changes, it would only get worse.
While Valorant hasn’t even been fully released yet and is still in the beta phase, industry insiders such as Complexity CEO Jason Lake have claimed that players have been receiving offers “north of $20K per month.”
Can confirm. Already hearing of offers north of $20k/mo.
Doesn't seem logical or wise just yet. https://t.co/EEam5ydXkL
— Jason Lake (@JasonBWLake) April 28, 2020
In 2017 it was revealed that the minimum Overwatch League salary was $50,000 a year, so it would seem like Valorant teams are stepping up to match or surpass what players were making in OWL.
Only time will tell who the next big name will be to announce they will be quitting in favor of Riot Games’ new FPS.