Professional Overwatch player Nero retires at 21, citing concerns over game’s direction

During his time competing in the Overwatch League, Charlie ‘Nero’ Zwarg was a member of the Guangzhou Charge, the San Francisco Shock, and the Atlanta Reign. Nero has spent years as one of the best damage-per-second players in all of Overwatch, but his professional career has now ended.

The player, who is 21 years old, announced his retirement early in the morning of February 19, citing issues with the game as the key motivation for his choice. Zwang was a veteran of the Overwatch League (OWL), having competed in both the OWL and Contenders from the league’s debut despite his young age. But since he parted company with the Atlanta Reign back in November, he has not been on an active roster, and now he has provided some insight into why that is the case.

Nero has decided to step away from competitive Overwatch League play

Zwang stated in his brief announcement that he would be retiring that he believes the brand is moving in the wrong path and that now is simply the appropriate time for him to leave the company.

On his Twitter account, he wrote, “Just wanted to give an update because fans have been asking me: I’m done competing in pro-scene, I’ve had plenty of time to think, and I’ve realized that the game is getting consistently worse IMO and not worth it to commit another time of my life to.” 

Just wanted to give an update because people have been asking me. I'm done competing in overwatch, I've had plenty of time to think and I've realized that the game is getting consistently worse IMO and not worth it to commit another year of my life to.

— nero (@ow_nero) February 19, 2023

This is in response to his persistent worry about the current status of Overwatch 2, which stretches back to the playtest that took place in September 2021. When asked about the game at the time, he responded, “It’s just not my cup of tea.” “Playing five-on-five is not appealing to me at all.” I have faith that Blizzard will iron out the remaining kinks… Coaching may be pleasant.

playtested ow2 the other day and it’s just not my cup of tea i don’t like the idea of playing 5v5 i trust blizzard to fix the other imperfections… coaching might be fun 🤔

— nero (@ow_nero) September 26, 2021

Zwang also clarified that he would not be moving very far away from the town, which means that the two-year-old coaching tease may be something for the community to be excited about in the future. They will have to hold off for the time being and await what comes next for one of the top players who have ever participated in Overwatch.