Former trial Cloud9 CSGO player Daniel “vice” Kim announced he would be taking a break from the competitive scene to focus on his education for now.
My plans moving forwardhttps://t.co/bcjR35hzTO https://t.co/jURYigJfuk
— ABX vice (@vice_cs) September 2, 2019
Cloud9 Daniel “vice” Kim
Daniel “vice” Kim started his competitive CSGO career in 2015 with teams like Mortality Esports, Trifecta Gaming, Denial Esports, Team SoloMid, Ze Pug Godz, eUnited, and Enigma6 Group. He joined Cloud9 on a trial basis in March of 2019, after individual players from Rogue left to other teams. Kim helped fill in the void that Robin “flusha” Rönnquist and trial player Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro left.
“Somewhere along the way, I lost the inspiration and motivation that made me want to devote 100% of myself to the game and I don’t think staying in the pro scene for the sake of money is the right way for me,” wrote Daniel “vice” Kim on his reasons for leaving CSGO. “I’m planning on going back to school for now but CS has been such a big part of my life that I doubt I’ll be done with it forever.”
Since joining, Cloud9 hasn’t gone on to find much success either. The roster placed in the bottom half at tournaments like 2019’s BLAST Pro Series Miami & Madrid, DreamHack Masters Dallas, and Season 9’s ESL Pro League Finals. This isn’t to say that vice was a reason as to why the roster wasn’t performing at a high level. Cloud9 had already ended many events with lackluster results prior to Kim joining.
Career after competitive play
Some reacted to his announcement by applauding his choice to pursue an education. Many players who have a competitive career in esports often do not have many options after retirement. There are only a few paths that usually consist of moving to a managerial position in an esports organization, becoming a coach, or starting a career as a content creator.
Besides, only a very small percentage of players will ever earn enough from esports to fully retire after. Most careers in competitive esports also don’t pan out in the end. This is the same for athletes in physical sports as well. At least collegiate athletes have a degree to fall back on, if they don’t end up pursuing a professional career in their sport after college. What do you think?
