In a shocking twist of events, two of India’s most beloved players—Raunak “Crowley” Sen and Jeet “Swifty” Kundar have announced their official retirement from the game. These two players had previously been the face and heart of the DOTA 2 eSports scene, especially in India, for the past 3 years or so. Team Signify, their former team, and their loyal fanbase weep the loss of two of their most prominent players.
The reasons behind the departure of these two Indian icons are frankly a bit sad. In an official statement released to his official Facebook page, Swift did not reveal many details:
“It[‘]s been a great and memorable journey of grinding for years and the numerous wins/losses for me from the day [I] started playing Dota2 professionally. I would like to apologize for the failures and also thank all of my Gamer friends, Spectators, Management brothers, and most importantly all my Team Members who supported me throughout this long phase of [the] Dota2 journey.
After trying many ways to continue and still fail, I’ve decided to stop playing it professionally due to many different reasons.”
However, the DOTA 2 community speculates their announced retirement comes from the lack of a viable eSports scene around DOTA 2. With little to no sponsorships and a year without tournaments, it is a dry environment for professional players.
Both Crowley and Swifty, however, claim that their retirement from DOTA 2 is not their retirement from the gaming scene as a whole. The duo has announced that they are currently analyzing their next game stop and will reveal it as soon as they are sure of their future. League of Legends, and it’s mobile version Wild Rift are strong options for their next step, given the similarities with DOTA 2 and the player’s previous patterns. We can only wait for what’s to come for these two legends.