Call of Duty eSports gamer Thomas ‘ZooMaa’ Paparetto has revealed he is retiring from professional gaming – because he hurt his thumb.
With eSports becoming ever more popular, and bookies like 888 Sport and William Hill Sport offering eSports betting markets, now is not a good time to be taking a back seat.
But in a passionate statement on Twitter, Paparetto said he must stop competing for the foreseeable future because it “just was not possible anymore”.
Part of the New York Subliners pro Call of Duty team, he had already undergone surgery but struggled to recover.
He told fans on Twitter: “Going through that process of getting healthy again was one of the hardest things I ever had to do both physically and mentally, which led to a lot of stress and anxiety.”
He said the wrist and thumb problem has made it tough for him to compete against the “best players in the world”.
“I don’t enjoy competing when I can’t be the ZooMaa everyone knows and loves and feel like it’s not fair to myself or to my team to go through all that again, potentially causing more damage to my hand.”
He thanked his fans for an outpouring of support and looked ahead to new projects, probably still in the industry
“It was the only thing keeping me going through it all. I look at it as one door closing and another one opening.”
