Canadian player Damien "Daps" Steele, who decided to end his career in CS:GO and move to Valorant, gave an interview to the HLTV portal, talking about his gaming experience. In total, he spent almost fifteen years in Counter Strike: Global Offensive, and during this time he distinguished himself more than once, playing for Cloud9, Gen.G and other teams. According to him, the main thing that gave him motivation to continue playing in recent years was LAN events and bootcamps. During the coronavirus pandemic, the opportunity to participate in them disappeared.
Daps suggests that if a return to the usual format is not possible in the coming months, online competitions will largely move to Europe, where many North American teams will also move.
The player also mentioned that before moving to Valorant he considered other options for continuing his career. In particular, he was offered a place in one of the well-known teams, but in the end the transfer did not work out for reasons beyond Damien’s control. He does not consider a coaching career suitable for himself.
According to the esportsman, it is wrong to think that players switch to Valorant solely for the money. For many of them, their earnings are reduced, as is the amount of prize money they can count on. For Daps, the main reason for leaving was a change in personal attitude towards the game.
