Thumb injury forces video player to retire

A 25-year-old professional video player has been forced to retire with a thumb injury.

Thomas “ZooMaa” Paparatto announced that he was “taking a step back from Call of Duty” on Twitter.

“This is the hardest thing I have ever had to write, I’m quitting and won’t be competing in Call of Duty for the foreseeable future,” he said in another blog post.

“It breaks my heart to walk away from a game that I put all my heart and soul into every day for eight years,” he added. “Tear up just writing this, but I don’t know what else to do at this point.”

Paparatto plays for an esports team called New York Subliners and he’s won $ 387,019 in 87 tournaments, according to Esports Earnings. His biggest single tournament prize came in April 2018, when he won $ 53,125 in a Call of Duty: Cold War II contest.

The American gamer struggled with his weak thumb and wrist a few years ago by playing a game called FaZe Clan. He had to undergo surgery as a result.

“Going through this process to get healthy has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to do physically and mentally, which has led to a lot of stress and anxiety,” he said. declared. “Unfortunately the injury has returned which makes it really difficult for me to compete at the highest level against some of the best players in the world.”

He said playing through the pain in his hand “just isn’t possible anymore” and that he doesn’t like to compete when he can’t be the “ZooMaa that everyone knows and loves.”

Fans and other players have shared their support after his announcement.

Many professional players train or compete for more than 10 hours a day, and some of them make over a million dollars a year. However, physical and mental strain on the body can sometimes lead to health problems.

Sam Matthews, founder and CEO of Fnatic, told CNBC in December: “These people are largely fit and healthy, but there is still an anomaly in the rule.”