Professional Call of Duty player Thomas “ZooMaa” Paparatto was forced to retire from eSports at the age of 25 due to a thumb and wrist injury. He played professionally for eight years.
After the injury, it became difficult for him to compete with the best players in the world.
“I don’t enjoy competing when I can’t be the ZooMaa that everyone knows and loves. It’s not fair to me and my team to go through all that again, potentially hurting my arm even more,” Paparatto said.
He emphasized that he is grateful for his path in eSports, which began at the age of 17, thanks to the members of New York Subliners, other gamers and fans for their love and support. Now Paparatto plans to look for any opportunity to connect his life with the game, because “he loves it too much to just walk away” without compromising his health.
“I look at it as if one door is closing and another is opening,” he adds.