Liquid Poach explains why he’s quitting Fortnite

Longstanding Fortnite professional for Team Liquid, Jake ‘Poach’ Brumleve today announced his retirement from the battle royale title, slamming Epic for tarnishing the game before revealing his future plans for Valorant.

While Chapter 2’s second season has introduced a wide array of content to keep casual players engaged, long-time content creators and pro players alike have openly criticized the game – perhaps more so now than ever before.

As the likes of Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins and Lannan ‘LazarBeam’ Eacott complain about the title, pro players are also turning away as Liquid’s Poach formally announced his retirement on March 30. Citing “lackluster communication” and “fundamentally flawed decisions” as the driving force behind his retirement, the player outlined how he believes Epic has “ruined” the game.

Having competed at the highest level since July of 2018, Poach officially decided to step away from the title on March 30 after outlining how the game “just doesn’t make [him] happy anymore.”

“Unfortunately, I haven’t enjoyed playing it in a long time and it affected me by not wanting to stream Fortnite,” he explained. “I wanted to stream other games, but I felt boxed in until I made a decision on what I was going to do. That sucked.”

No longer enjoying the content creation aspect is one factor behind his decision, however, Poach also addressed the esports side of Fortnite. Highlighting that “how Epic treated the game competitively” also pushed him further away from the title.

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“I’m a very competitive person and I really want to compete in something truly competitive and Fortnite to me clearly wasn’t that,” he explained.

From TimTheTatman, to Ewok and Mongraal, countless Fortnite content creators, fellow pros, and loyal viewers chimed in to show support for his decision. Though Poach didn’t leave fans without hope for the future.

“For the future I hope I find what I’m looking for in Valorant,” he said. “I have high hopes for the game and am very motivated to stream and try and compete.”

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Seemingly a part of Valorant’s invite-only testing period over the past weekend, perhaps his first taste-test of Riot’s upcoming FPS was enough to push him over the edge and drive him away from Fortnite for good.

Leaving the battle royale genre behind for the time being, the popular player now clearly has his sights set on a switch to the pursuit of competitive FPS stardom.

Having announced a closed beta period for select regions starting April 7, fans may be able to tune into Poach’s Twitch stream in order to gain early access to Valorant themselves — as long as you’re in NA or EU.