2-time MLG X Games winner "scump" retires from Call of Duty

31 October 2022

After more than a decade of competing at the very highest levels of Call of Duty, the world of international esports will soon be saying goodbye to Seth “Scump” Abner. Just a few days ago, one of the best Call of Duty players of all time, announced on his own Twitter account that he will be retiring from professional Call of Duty esports in 2023. “One last dance, ladies and gentlemen”, Scump Tweeted last week, “This will be my final year competing as a professional Call of Duty player”. The 2022-2023 season will be his thirteenth and final season competing for Call of Duty glory, a decision that came as a surprise to many.

One of the best ever

Scump, who currently plays for Dallas-based OpTic Texas, has been active in the world of Call of Duty esports since 2010. Over this period, he was part of nine teams, including OpTic Gaming, Team EnVyUs and Chicago Huntsmen, and won several prestigious international titles. He was crowned Major League Gaming (MLG) X Games champion twice in a row in 2014 and 2015, he was named the 2016 Esports Console Player of the Year in 2016, and won the Call of Duty World League (CWL) once in 2017. His most recent success came at the inaugural “SOLO YOLO” part of the World Series of Warzone 2021, where he took first place and $100.000 in prize money, showing that he is not just a certified COD veteran, but a serious multi-platform competitor.

Living streaming legend

His ongoing success has not only brought Scump a whole host of titles and an estimated more than one million USD in prize money, but also a rather huge online following. At the moment of writing, the American has 2.64 million subscribers on Youtube, a total of 2.2 million followers on Twitter, and an audience of about 1.3m followers on Twitch, making him one of the most popular esports streamers in the world without a doubt. Looking at these follower numbers, Scump will likely continue as a content creator and possibly a commentator after retiring from Call of Duty as an active player in 2023. The 27-year-old also mentioned in the past that he would like to focus more of his time on his fiancé and his home life at some point, as competitive Call of Duty esports have dominated his life for the past few years.

“I just think that… My time and my effort and my energy, one last season is pretty much all that I’ve got left in my tank, in terms of just my mental… All that stuf”, Scump explains on Twitter as part of his retirement statement, “I think that I have one more good year to give to, not only myself, but my teammates, first and foremost, my coaching staff, my amazing partners, the people I work with at OpTic, and you guys, the GreenWall”.