Overwatch: Jake from Houston Outlaws Retires

Jacob “JAKE” Lyon, flex DPS with Houston Outlaws for over two years, just announced his retirement on Twitter.

Jacob “JAKE” Lyon made a name for himself in the Overwatch League with some incredible plays as Junkrat and Soldier for the Houston Outlaws. After two years in the League and experience as team captain for the USA in the 2017 World Cup, Jake announces his retirement.

Today we say goodbye to @jakeow as he retires to pursue new opportunities.

Jake has been nothing short of an incredible player, teammate, and professional in his time with us.
We wish him nothing but the absolute best moving forward.

Forever an Outlaw. 💚 pic.twitter.com/Mm4R5e5AsQ

— Houston Outlaws (@Outlaws) December 7, 2019

Overcoming obstacles to go pro

In his retirement announcement, Jake opens up about the hard path he had to take to go pro. “I’ve sacrificed relationships, sleep, and SO much time to become a professional player,” says Jake. “The chance to compete at the highest level among the best players on the planet was worth it all.” Even if the path was full of ambushes, Jake didn’t give up and managed becoming captain of Team USA during the Overwatch World Cup 2017. The North Americans ended at the 7th 5-8th place, losing 2:4 against the world champions of Team South Korea.

After being a pro for over two years in one of the first Overwatch League team and playing for his country during the World Cup, Jake says that “reaching a level of success in OW has led me to reevaluate [his] goals and […] think big-picture about what [he] wants to do in [his] life.”

What is next for Jake?

This retirement decision doesn’t put an end to Jake playing Overwatch. “I still enjoy playing Overwatch,” says Jake. “you haven’t seen the last of me in the Overwatch scene!” Jake will stay online with his streams, already followed by over 86,000 spectators. In 2018, he joined the casting deck for the Overwatch Contenders and the World Cup. As he now wants to focus more on streaming, we can expect him to join an Overwatch League team as a staff member, either as a caster or an analyst.