There are only twelve spots in the upcoming Overwatch league, and seven have already been bought and paid for. For players like Chris “Kophee” Mehlhoff, this is a death warrant for his competitive career. He’s had some moderate success, but he recognizes that his talent falls short when the stakes are this high. He explained himself on a twitlonger post,
“I'm good at Winston, but there are dozens of main tank talent who are on or above my level globally and have substantially more connections/fame than I do”
When the money gets like this, people don’t want to take a chance on players like Kophee. If they are paying the big bucks, they want to be sure that the player is up to snuff. Kophee just doesn’t want to deal with the uncertainty and waiting for a chance to get in on the remaining five spots, since he feels like most people don’t have a good chance of getting in.
“As a pro player, if you're not in the league, then you're not really playing the game at a competitive level. I'd say most professionals right now are waiting out the signing period to see if a miracle happens, but unless you're a high profile player you probably won't make it into the league.”
Kophee plans on moving to Seattle to pursue other interests, and hopes to break into voice acting. He doesn’t know if he will return to Overwatch, and unless something changes with Blizzard, I don’t see it happening either.
