What is the situation of professional e-sports players after retirement?
What do professional esports players do after they retire?
Song Tao was once the champion of the King of Glory Professional League. After retiring, he became a courier boy. This incident caused a shock in the industry not long ago.
In fact, Song Tao is just the epitome of countless e-sports players. His educational background and educational level are not high, and his experience as a professional player is not recognized... The reporter found that even the best players would find it difficult to play in e-sports after retirement. Find a foothold outside the competition.
Yangtze Evening News/Ziniu News reporter Jiang Tiansheng
Returning to school and being admitted to one of the top 100 universities in the world
Yu Rui was one of the first e-sports players to participate in the League of Legends professional league, number 005.
In the five years from 2012 to 2017, Yu Rui won a total of 1 championship, 2 runners-up and 1 runner-up.
At the end of 2017, 24-year-old Yu Rui chose to retire due to age constraints and competitive pressure.
After that, Yu Rui made a short comeback, but did not get results.
In 2018, with the support of his mother, Yu Rui took the exam and returned to school at the "senior age" of 25 to enter the university to study financial management.
With his own efforts, Yu Rui got an IELTS score of 7 in his first year of university.
On March 12 this year, Yu Rui posted on his personal social media the admission notice of the University of Glasgow, one of the world's top 100 universities, and wrote, "There are dreams in life, and each is wonderful."
In the interview, Yu Rui used the words "no regrets" to describe his choice of professional e-sports at that time.
He said, "If someone asks me whether I should play e-sports in my youth, I will tell him frankly that in a top-level event, all you see is the splendor of the dozens of people at the top of the pyramid, and the rest. Hundreds of thousands of times are also very hardworking people, but it is difficult for them to get out of the circle for various reasons. To reach the top of the pyramid, talent and hard work are indispensable."
Go home and become a courier brother, take care of your parents and take up family responsibilities
Song Tao, who was born in 1993, won the championship of the first King Glory Professional League in 2016.
Although he has not officially announced his retirement, he gradually faded out of the arena in 2018. After that, Song Tao started live broadcasts and played with e-sports, but not many people paid attention.
At present, Song Tao has returned to his hometown and works in a courier company, responsible for the sorting of express delivery.
Song Tao said that he and his former teammates had little interaction, and there was very little contact. When talking about his current job, Song Tao smiled and said, "Now I am returning to the life of ordinary people, after all, I am old." It is reported that Song Tao His parents were older and needed to be taken care of. Song Tao chose to go home to work because he hoped to be able to take on the responsibilities of the family.
Be a teacher at the eSports Career Academy
Like Song Tao, Liao Feiyu, who was born in 1995, was also the champion member of the first King Glory Professional League in 2016.
After winning this championship, Liao Feiyu went to many teams and played in secondary events, but failed to achieve results and then left the professional stage.
At present, Liao Feiyu is working as a teacher in an e-sports academy in Yubei District, Chongqing. His usual job is to teach students to play games. Sometimes Liao Feiyu will take the students to watch the game together. In a post-match award, Liao Feiyu pointed to the champion. The ring said to everyone, "I have one too." The reporter opened the introduction of this e-sports academy and found that in addition to Liao Feiyu, there are also some retired professional players teaching here.
Fade out of the e-sports circle and transform into an anchor
In 2005 and 2006, Li Xiaofeng won the WCG World of Warcraft World Championship twice, which aroused extremely high social attention at that time and was known as "the first person in domestic e-sports". He gradually faded out of the e-sports circle in 2012, and in 2015 In 2008, Li Xiaofeng issued a long article announcing his retirement, and transformed into an entrepreneurial company to serve as CEO.
Recently, 37-year-old Li Xiaofeng came back. He opened an account on a short video website, mainly live streaming Warcraft. The reporter entered Li Xiaofeng's live broadcast room and found that there are many shopping links in Li Xiaofeng's live broadcast room. , Li Xiaofeng will also become a "cargo anchor", recommending various products to the audience in front of the camera.
Wang Xuwen made his debut in 2006 and won the WCG World of Warcraft World Championship in 2009. After that, the game of Warcraft gradually declined. Wang Xuwen tried to transform other games, but there was no success.
After the rise of the live broadcast platform, Wang Xuwen became an anchor, mainly broadcasting Warcraft. In 2019, he won the WCG World Championship again, and then faded out of the arena. He told reporters, "The emergence of the live broadcast platform has saved a lot of old games. "
■Expert analysis
no other industry
Recognize the experience of a professional athlete
Chen Yanlin, vice chairman of the National E-Sports Association Federation, said, "Professional e-sports players have a very short career life. After they retire, their education and education level is not high, and their way out is relatively narrow. Except for the e-sports industry itself, almost no industry will recognize professional players. experience." Chen Yanlin pointed out that although all parties are calling for attention to the employment problem of e-sports players after retirement, not many can really be implemented.