SlasheR threatens retirement if CDL stays online next season
Activision[jwplayer pqm2EgOF]OpTic Gaming Los Angeles star Austin ‘SlasheR’ Liddicoat has threatened to retire from Call of Duty if the CoD League stays online into the 2021 season.
While SlasheR and his OpTic teammates are among some of the most successful or individually talented players CoD esports has ever seen, this season has been a tough one for them, and the switch from LAN to online play doesn’t seem to have helped.
It appears now that SlasheR has had enough, and shortly after the team’s loss to Florida Mutineers at CDL London on in the early hours of July 9, he vented his frustrations with the current climate of the CDL.
Instagram: opticgaming“Barring a miracle the league will more than likely be online next year,” he said. “I have a lot to think about [and] more than likely will take time off.”
He then added that he “won’t put himself through this anymore,” blaming the league’s central south servers not working properly.
Baring a miracle the league will more than likely be online next year I have a lot to think about more than likely will take time off. I will not put myself thru this anymore. we suffer because their central south servers cant work properly
— SlasheR (@SlasheR_AL) July 19, 2020
While some may have thought SlasheR’s threat was merely a heat of the moment statement, he booted up his stream later on and reiterated his point.
“I will heavily consider retiring, probably not forever but until LAN comes back, if next year is online,” he said. “I can’t put myself through this anymore. I can’t continue to play 10 hours a day to not even have a fair chance to showcase my talent.”
He continued, saying: “It’s one thing if you give it your all and you lose because you just weren’t good enough, but it’s another thing if you don’t even get a chance to give it your all.”
If SlasheR were to retire, even temporarily, the esport would be losing arguably one of its greatest talents, but he might change his mind if his team sees some success at this year’s Call of Duty Championships.
Players and fans alike will be hoping that some normalcy returns to the world prior to the start of the next CDL season, and LAN events are once more able to go ahead. There has been no official word yet on how the CDL will proceed in 2021.