Clayster, one of the most decorated Call of Duty professionals, is hanging up his controller.
Legendary Call of Duty professional player James "Clayster" Eubanks officially retired on Oct. 23.
The three-time world champion announced his retirement from Call of Duty esports through a post on X. In the announcement video, Clayster talked about his accomplishments and frustrations in Call of Duty esports, and his career throughout many games and teams.
Clayster had been an unrestricted free agent since July, when his last team Carolina Royal Ravens released him after a poor Call of Duty League (CDL) stint. As soon as he was released, Clayster told his fans that he was considering retirement.
The veteran, though, teased a return in the middle of August, saying he'd call organizations potentially joining the CDL to offer his services. It's unclear if he was just trolling, but now it's safe to say that Clayster will not join any new team, at least as a pro player. The announcement arrived just two days before Black Ops 6's worldwide release.
Clayster's accomplishments
It's hard to list all of Clayster's accomplishments in Call of Duty esports as he's one of the most decorated professionals ever and played in 99 major tournaments. He started competing in 2007 when he was just 15 years old. He also played all of the modern Call of Duty games professionally.
Although Clayster represented many organizations during all this time, he most notably shined under the banners of Denial Esports, United, and Dallas Empire.
Clayster won Call of Duty Championship 2015 in Advanced Warfare with Denial, the CWL Pro League Finals and CWL Championship in 2019 with eUnited in Black Ops 4, and the cherry on top was the CDL 2020 Playoffs with Dallas Empire in Modern Warfare 2019.
Related articles
Call of Duty community reacts to Clayster's retirement
As we can imagine, a lot of Call of Duty professionals, personalities, and fans replied to Clayster's retirement. Most of the posts are people telling how he'll be missed.
Matthew "Nadeshot" Haag, founder and co-owner of 100 Thieves, called Clayster's career "arguably one of the best" in Call of Duty's history.
Former pro Christopher "Parasite" Duarte told Clayster he "stood the test of time." The official accounts of Call of Duty, Sledgehammer Games, and Treyarch also replied to Clayster, congratulating him for the legendary career across the games.
What is Clayster doing next after his retirement?
It's currently unclear what Clayster will do next now that he's officially retired from Call of Duty esports. The 32-year-old, however, said he'll reveal his next venture in the "upcoming weeks."
"I wanted to create something that was raw & authentic for my retirement video, something that spoke to the passion I’ve competed with over the last half of my life. It was an incredibly tough shoot for me, but I hope that the video resonated with y’all as much as it did me.
I’ll never be able to truly thank everyone involved, but from the bottom of my heart THANK YOU to everyone who made pro CoD a possible career path. I’ve lived a blessing every single day since I started doing this, and I wouldn’t have changed a single thing about it. It feels surreal to say I’m done, but I really am so so so grateful for the opportunity I’ve had, to live the life I have.
I’m sure many of you have questions about what I’m doing next, but that’ll stay under wraps for now. Stay tuned in the upcoming weeks for what the next venture will be. Thank you so much."
We highly doubt that Clayster won't be involved in the scene anymore, especially with Black Ops 6's launch being around the corner. While we have to wait for him to announce his next steps, we'll most likely see he stream Black Ops 6 along with friends in the coming days.
That's all for now. Stay tuned to esports.gg for more Call of Duty news.
