Liquid Poach Retires from Competitive Fortnite

Liquid Poach says goodbye to competitive Fortnite.

Last week, we covered a developing trend in competitive Fortnite where gobs of players are moving on from the game.

Dylan “Dmo” Moore was one player of note who involved himself in Fortnite at the very beginning and recently announced his retirement. After an unprecedented three years of the incredibly popular Battle Royale title, professional players are quitting for a variety of reasons. Fortnite still maintains its popularity on a casual level, but hardcore players and professionals continue to lose interest in the game. Another legendary known as Jake “Poach” Brumleve of Team Liquid, just added himself to the growing list of retired competitors.

Poach makes the inevitable announcement

Stepping away from Fortnite

Read: https://t.co/Q1HxOArA4f

— POACH (@Poach) March 31, 2020

After not competing in a legitimate Fortnite tournament since December, it seemed as if most new Poach had come to terms with his current situation. The Team Liquid member spent the majority of his Fortnite career calling out Epic Games for their poor decision making. In Poach’s statement, he said;

“As of today I'm moving on from Fortnite, for a while now I've been deciding what I want to do with my future and I didn't see Fortnite being a part of it, it just doesn't make me happy anymore and I'm not going to stick around to something that causes unhappiness. Unfortunately, I haven't enjoyed playing it in a long time and it affected me by not wanting to stream Fortnite. I wanted to stream other games, but I felt boxed in until I made a decision on what I was going to do.”

Part of Poach’s reasoning makes sense, in that games grow old over time. Some titles such as Counter-Strike and League of Legends stand the test of time over and over again. Unfortunately, recent history does not lean in favor of Fortnite. Poach did not want to stream or invest time in a game that he no longer enjoys playing. Streamers and professional players often group themselves into a specific niche that can be hard to escape. For that reason, it’s difficult to argue or pick apart Poach’s decision to step away from a game that ultimately helped him grow a brand.

Calling out the lack of communication

It’s almost as if we are rehashing the same song and dance again and again with Epic Games’ treatment of the competitive community. Players are almost always in the dark about patch notes, the competitive future, and whether or not Fortnite will perform up to expectations. Poach referenced Epic’s treatment of fans and competitive players in his retirement statement.

“It also doesn't help how EPIC has treated the game competitively with their decisions being fundamentally flawed when running this esport as well as their lackluster communication with the pro and fan communities…”

The Team Liquid player proceeded to say that he will always cherish the memories with Fortnite. Poach hit the nail on the head and echoed sentiments felt by many other professional players in the scene. Epic Games’ failure to communicate even on a fundamental level with fans has drawn an immense amount of criticism. Although it remains a hot commodity, Fortnite’s competitive scene is losing steam day by day. Although Poach is not on the level streamers like Tfue in terms of popularity, he was a staple in the community and simply could not reignite his passion for playing Fortnite.

Fond memories and exciting future

♥️ https://t.co/OvgOtSe3Ri

— POACH (@Poach) March 31, 2020

Poach made a name for himself during the 2018 Summer Skirmish and Fall Skirmish tournaments. These were invite-only events, where Poach achieved several high finishes, including a second and two third-place finishes. He also placed fifth at the Secret Skirmish alongside duo partner tendons. Many will remember Poach for always speaking out against Epic Games’ questionable decisions. For well over a year, he has grilled Fortnite’s developers, and unfortunately, the community has lost another rational voice. Poach composed his comments methodically for the most part and wanted the best out of Fortnite. The entire community including the likes of Benjyfishy, Mongraal, Myth and many others came out in support of Poach, but Ballatw summed it up best.

😉 a clear path that we all know damn well you're going to blaze.

Hope they cross again soon, cause you were an inspiration on this one. 🥰

— Ballatw (@Ballatw) March 31, 2020

He will continue to compete and stream under Team Liquid’s banner for the foreseeable future. It appears that Riot’s newest tactical shooter Valorant is on Poach’s radar. Hopefully, the Fortnite veteran will find success in a new game, and perhaps Epic Games can turn a new corner with competitive Fortnite as players continue to call it quits.

Featured Image: Team Liquid