In a surprise announcement, Yiliang “Doublelift” Peng has officially announced his retirement from professional League of Legends today. He has played competitively for over a decade, ever since the first official season.
The prestigious ADC main announced his retirement in a Twitlonger, where he explains his journey to the top of the professional League of Legends scene as well as how the game influenced his life.
Doublelift’s retirement message
Reflections
Read: https://t.co/soa0HpgGlf
— Yiliang Peng (@Doublelift1) November 25, 2020
In the Twitlonger, Doublelift doesn’t give an explicit reason for retiring. Instead, he discusses his journey. He starts by talking about how he was an unpopular nerd in school and how playing video games helped him cope with life.
Doublelift goes on to talk about the humble beginnings of the League of Legends scene, and how he grew up and changed with the game. He wanted to be “bold, confident, and popular” and League of Legends helped him accomplish those things.
Doublelift went on to win eight LCS Championships and played professionally for prestigious organizations such as Counter Logic Gaming, Team SoloMid, and Team Liquid. While he never achieved his ultimate goal of winning the World Championship, he solidified a lasting legacy and made a name for himself as one of the most prolific and well-known esports pros in the history of the industry.
What’s next for him?
Doublelift didn’t go into any details about why he chose to retire now or what he plans to do next. He simply stated that he is beginning a new chapter in his life. The now ex-pro could go on to coach, like his old teammate Soren “Bjergsen” Bjerg. He could also go on to do League of Legends analysis, as many other pros have done before him.
Of course, he could depart from the scene entirely and move onto other things in his life. This doesn’t seem likely though, given that League of Legends has made up such a huge part of his life for so long. Either way, we will likely find out his plans soon.
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