Image: Riot Games
TenZ revealed that he already knew at the start of the 2024 season that it would be his last.
Canadian VALORANT professional player for Sentinels Tyson “TenZ” Ngo has announced his retirement from competitive play on Sunday (September 15) after an illustrious four-year career that saw him claim multiple titles and become one of the game's most iconic stars.
In an emotional message to fans, TenZ said he already knew at the start of the 2024 season that it was going to be his last year as a full-time pro player.
“It's not really easy to say, but I'm retiring from competitive play. I've known since the start of the year, I've told myself that this is my last year. It was definitely a moment for me to give it my all and play without any regrets.”
TenZ also revealed that another factor in his decision to retire is his wish to shift to being a full-time content creator, something that is not possible as a pro player due to the sheer amount of time and commitment that entails.
“Playing as a pro player, it's definitely a big-time commitment. You're committing your entire life to be the best, it's a lot of work and can be quite tiring. There's just a lot of stuff that I want to do outside of the game that I'm very ambitious about, stuff that I definitely needed more time in my own schedule in order to chase after.”
While TenZ will no longer be a part of Sentinels' official roster in the VALORANT Champions Tour (VCT) moving forward, he assured fans that he will remain with the team as a content creator and is even open to playing as a substitute should the need arise.
“Although I won't be playing in the team anymore, that doesn't mean I'm gone from Sentinels. I'm still SEN TenZ at the end of the day. Who knows, maybe Sentinels might need a sub or some sort? I already know a guy.”
TenZ retires as one of VALORANT's most iconic players
TenZ got his start in esports in Counter-Strike: Global Offensive in 2017, becoming known in that game for his time with Cloud9 (C9) in 2019. He switched to VALORANT in 2020 as a member of Cloud9 Blue before getting loaned to Sentinels in March 2021 and fully joining the organisation three months later.
In his first year with Sentinels, TenZ helped the team dominate the North American scene and even win the first-ever VCT Masters tournament in Reykjavík, Iceland. Sentinels couldn't replicate that success for the rest of the season, however, as they only finished in 5th-8th place at the second Masters tournament in Berlin, Germany, and only managed 9th-12th place in VALORANT Champions 2021.
Sentinels struggled all throughout the 2022 season and failed to win anything of note, which led TenZ temporarily becoming inactive the next year from April to May. He returned to Sentinels' active roster in May, though the team didn't make a lot of noise for the rest of the year either.
TenZ and Sentinels then saw a resurgence in the 2024 season, winning the VCT 2024 Americas Kickoff and Masters Madrid back-to-back in March. While the team struggled through Stages 1 and 2 of the VCT 2024 Americas League, they still managed to qualify for VALORANT Champions 2024.
In TenZ's last pro tournament appearance in VALORANT Champions 2024, Sentinels earned the second seed of Group B in the Group Stage to qualify for the Playoffs. They then swept South Korea's DRX in the upper bracket quarterfinals but were defeated by eventual champions EDward Gaming in the upper bracket semifinals to get knocked down to the lower bracket.
Sentinels bounced back from their previous loss by defeating Fnatic in the lower bracket quarterfinals. However, they were defeated by eventual runners-up Team Heretics in the lower bracket semifinals to bow out of VALORANT Champions 2024 in 4th place.