Overwatch pro Nero announces retirement after six years

Charlie ‘Nero’ Zwarg had stints with Guangzhou Charge, San Francisco Shock, and Atlanta Reign during his time in the Overwatch League.

Nero was a top DPS player in all of Overwatch for years, but his journey as a professional player has come to an end.

The 21-year-old announced his retirement on the morning of February 19, citing problems with the game as the primary reason for his decision. Although he’s still young, Zwang was an OWL veteran, having played in OWL and Contenders since their inception.

He hasn’t been on an active roster since he parted ways with Atlanta Reign in November, though, and now he’s shared some insight into why that is.

Nero retires from Overwatch League competition

In his brief retirement announcement, Zwang noted that he thinks the franchise is headed in the wrong direction, and this is simply the right time for him to get out.

“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,” he tweeted.

This follows his longstanding concern over the state of Overwatch 2, which dates all the way back to the September 2021 playtest.

“It’s just not my cup of tea,” he said of the game back then. “I don’t like the idea of playing 5v5. I trust Blizzard to fix the other imperfections…coaching might be fun.”

Zwang also confirmed that he wouldn’t be going far away from the community so that two-year-old coaching tease could be something for to get excited about in the future. For now, they’ll have to wait and see what’s next for one of the best players to ever touch Overwatch.