Hazed announces retirement from esports

In the last few hours, the news came out, through the player himself, that James “Hazed” Cobb, former CS:GO and VALORANT player, is retiring from the competitive esports scene.

It was not the ending Hazed would have hoped for, as, at 34 years old, he is retiring after TSM (his last team in VALORANT) disbanded its squad a few weeks ago. However, it should also be noted that this decision is completely valid because of his age and new projects in his personal life.

Hazed announces his retirement

Through an announcement on his official Twitter/X account, Hazed announced that, at the age of 34, he is retiring from the competitive esports scene.

Been MIA for a while but I suppose i should clarify publicly for anyone who cares:

Im done playing professionally.

I dont regret a moment of it. From 2004 to now, i met so many people and made some wonderful memories. Thanks to everyone who was a part of the journey. ♥️

— hazed (@hazedCS) November 5, 2023

As we see in the post on Twitter/x, Hazed refers to the fact that he will no longer play at the professional level, meaning that he officially hangs up his mouse and keyboard. In addition, he also mentioned that since his beginnings in 2004 in esports, he has no regrets, as he has met many people and, above all, has some “wonderful” memories.

Hazed had an extensive and good career in esports, as he spent 19 years competing in both Counter-Strike and VALORANT. In addition, he was also Head Coach and Analyst at some points in his career, especially at the end of it.

Hazed in Counter-Strike

The 34-year-old American started his career in Counter-Strike, but he became known in the esports world in mid-2010 when he played CS:S with eMazing Gaming and Double Scope Gang.

Then, in 2014, he finally jumped to CS:GO, where he played excellently under the CLG banner and even played 5 Majors between 2015/16. However, Hazed was not part of the best squads at the time, as he failed to win any LAN tournaments in his entire career.

In the 2017 season, Hazed decided to make the jump to coach and took the reins of OpTic Gaming just before becoming an Analyst that same year. Finally, in 2020, with the arrival of VALORANT, the American decided to leave Counter-Strike to play under the Mythic banner in Riot’s shooter.

Leap to VALORANT

Now, in 2020, Hazed needed to be “reborn” on the competitive scene, and the arrival of VALORANT seemed ideal for this. Days after the official launch of Riot Games’ tactical shooter, Hazed signed with mouseSpaz.

However, thanks to his talent and experience in the esports scene, it didn’t take long for Hazed to prove his worth and earn a place at TSM alongside talents such as Matthew “Wardell” Yu and Yassine “Subroza” Taoufik.

Despite leading TSM to a tournament win in 2021, the American joined NRG as a new IGL, a team he belonged to for 1 year. Finally, at the end of 2022, Hazed signed again for TSM, where he only stayed for 2 months.

Indeed, Hazed’s career in CS and VALORANT is not the most successful of all. However, it is undeniable that this American player was 100% dedicated to his passion and proved it for almost 20 years. For now, it only remains to wish Hazed the best of luck and success in his future endeavors.

Header: Fragbite