It hasn’t been long since you announced your retirement – have you had a sudden change in lifestyle?<\/h3>\n
It was official at the beginning of December so it’s been around two months. As far as lifestyle changes, the biggest thing is no longer scrimming. I’m still playing the game when I stream for entertainment but it’s a huge tectonic shift to no longer practice to be a competitive player. <\/p>\n
I wasn’t just playing for fun when I was playing as an esports player, and to go back to that is really nice but it’s also a big change. <\/p>\n
The biggest thing obviously is no team scrims so I’m able to play the game in a much more casual way, just have fun, and not take it super seriously which is something I wasn’t able to do over the past few years.<\/p>\n
One of the things that made me want to retire was I wanted to do a better job for my personal health and wellness. It’s something I cared for as a player, I tried to do it a little but it was always priority two. If I felt like I needed to practise or study the game, that would always come first. <\/p>\n So I’ve been changing that around and making my health and wellness priority one, putting the energy into it I used to be putting into Overwatch. Now I’m really focused on doing my workout every single day and eating healthy.<\/p>\n Cooking for myself is the big key to eating healthy I think, rather than just ordering delivery all the time and thinking it gives you more time to practise – which is how I thought as a player. So it’s refocusing what’s important to me and deciding what things to put my energy into, instead of continuing at that headlong pace that’s necessary for esports. <\/p>\n I wouldn’t say it suffered. I feel like I was pretty fit and healthy in the Overwatch League; I was still working out, but it’s more I’ve been able to take my focus on it to the next level since retiring. Instead of it being something I do on the side as a necessity, it’s something I’m doing front and centre in my life. <\/p>\n That’s something that’s also been motivated by my family. There are close family members who have serious illnesses, so I guess seeing them focus on their own health has made me feel like, “You know what, I’m not sick at all,” so there’s no reason for me not to be healthy and to take it seriously. <\/p>\n Maybe that’s just something because I’m getting a little bit older now. I mean I’m not that old but still, 23 is different than 16. <\/p>\n Definitely bittersweet I would say. It wasn’t an easy decision, like a snap “I’m definitely doing it now.” For me, I was waiting on the career security of getting my Overwatch League talent contract signed so I was definitely in for the next season of talent. <\/p>\n If I’d been in a position where I didn’t have a job, I probably would have kept playing just because; to pay rent and stuff. It’s the real world out there and I don’t really want to go back to school. I really do want to keep working in esports.<\/p>\n I was pretty confident for a long time I would be able to get a job in the Overwatch League talent because I had expressed interest in years past, so I felt like it was pretty realistic. But when I got that final contract then it was like, “alright, this is real”. <\/p>\n
\nJake retired from Overwatch in December 2019 (Picture: Blizzard) <\/span><\/p>\nSo what’s filling your days now between streaming? <\/h3>\n
Do you think your health suffered somewhat as a pro player? <\/h3>\n
When you announced you were retiring, did you feel elated at that moment? <\/h3>\n