Brandon "Seagull" Larned announced Thursday that he has stepped down from NRG eSports's starting Overwatch roster in order to focus on his streaming career until the launch of the Blizzard Overwatch League. The player still remains in NRG as a substitute, and taking his place will be Cloud9's Lucas "mendokusaii" Håkansson.
Hey everyone, This will be a surprise to most of you, but today I'm announcing that I'm stepping down from (cont) https://t.co/uzqYB0GuVP
— Brandon Larned (@A_Seagull) April 13, 2017
The player reasons that the gap between April and the start of the Blizzard Overwatch League, reportedly set to start in Q3 of this year, makes streaming a more attractive option right now. "I've been struggling to justify giving up streaming hours to play in the competitive scene during this downtime," he said. "As any competitive FPS player knows, it's tough maintaining motivation for small online tournaments - particularly when I knew I was letting down my fanbase by not having a regular stream."
As one of the most recognizable faces in the Overwatch scene, Seagull made a strong impression on both his stream and in competition, utilizing Pharah, Genji and Hanzo to great effect.
"For the past year, it's become obvious that I struggle with maintaining a balance between professional play and streaming," he stated.
He has also noted that he remains dedicated to being a professional player, and that he intends to return to the pro circuit for the inaugural season of the Overwatch League.
While @A_Seagull takes a break from the active roster to focus on streaming, We're stoked @Mendokusaii is filling in for OMM.#NRGFam pic.twitter.com/JRBC6PdMDE
— NRG Esports (@NRGgg) April 13, 2017
Seagull's replacement, Mendokusaii, had moved to Cloud9's inactive roster on April 11 after the organization acquired Koo "Xepher" Jae-mo and An "Selly" Jeong-hwan.