Hiko announces retirement from competitive VALORANT

Spencer “Hiko” Martin announced his retirement from competitive VALORANT on Tuesday, according to a 100 Thieves Tweet. He will stay with 100 Thieves as a full-time streamer and content creator, however.

“This decision was pretty bittersweet for me,” Hiko said in the retirement video. “I’m sure I’m going to miss competing, but I’m also super excited to announce that I will be continuing my content creation career under 100 Thieves.”

The 32-year-old VALORANT streamer began his career as a Counter-Strike pro. When VALORANT was released in June 2020, Hiko’s streaming career boomed as he became one of the foremost players in the new tactical shooter from Riot Games. He went on to help form the 100 Thieves VALORANT roster, which went to achieve success in the VALORANT Champions Tour.

A special message from the captain of clutch, @Hiko.

While today marks the end of Spencer's professional VALORANT career, he is excited to share details about his new journey here @100Thieves. pic.twitter.com/Ideeb7MHTR

— 100 Thieves Esports (@100T_Esports) April 12, 2022

“Hiko has been a monumental piece to our VALORANT program,” Matthew “Nadeshot” Haag, the founder and CEO of 100 Thieves, said. “It’s just been a joy to have him as a part of our organization.”

As he retires from pro play, Hiko will undertake a full-time streaming career. Previously, he had balanced his Twitch streaming with competitive play. Even still, he currently sits at more than 1.5 million followers and more than 1,500 active subscribers on the streaming platform, according to TwitchTracker.

“Now that I have a lot more free time, I plan on dedicating all of my focus and all of my energy into streaming, and creating unique and new content you guys haven’t seen me in before,” Hiko said.

100 Thieves’ success in the North American and international VCT began to dry up by the end of 2021. In early 2022, the team began to undergo a complete rebuild of their roster. The new team will be led by former casting duo Sean Gares — as head coach — and Daniel “ddk” Kapadia — as general manager. As of now, the team only has Peter “Asuna” Mazuryk and Ethan “Ethan” Arnold signed to their roster.