Why did Danny step away from Evil Geniuses’ LoL roster?

Even after an electric start to his League of Legends career in the LCS, Evil Geniuses’ former AD carry Kyle “Danny” Sakamaki has yet to step onto Summoner’s Rift in 2023. In fact, he hasn’t played a professional game since last September, right before the start of the World Championship.

The 19-year-old phenom was heralded as the next big thing in North American League esports, stunning both fans and analysts alike with his fearless play, incredible mechanical skill, and endearing fans with his humble attitude toward the competition. But now, supporters can only imagine what kind of peaks he could have reached in his career.

Related: ‘Completely on me’: Danny breaks silence on EG absence and what’s next in his LoL career

Danny isn’t returning to the LCS and is instead shifting to content creation as a part of EG’s Creator Collective. As one of the most promising talents to grace the stage, Danny’s captivating talent will be missed by the entire League ecosystem. But what pushed the young star to take a step back?

Danny’s hiatus from competitive play, explained

At the start of September 2022, EG announced that Danny would be stepping away from the roster to focus on his mental health. The talented AD carry also confirmed in a recent social media post that “the pressure of being an esports pro has overwhelmed [him] to [his] breaking point.”

The team competed with substitute marksman Muhammed Hasan “Kaori” Şentürk but was bested by 100 Thieves in the following series. When Worlds came around, EG confirmed that Danny was not returning to the lineup, and in the following offseason, the team acquired Victor “FBI” Huang as Danny’s permanent replacement. Since then, Danny has been relatively quiet on social media and hasn’t streamed since last June.

Duncan “Thorin” Shields also recently accused EG of mistreating Danny during his time on the roster. According to Thorin, Danny was struggling before the Liquid series but was pushed to play through his issues by management, which exacerbated the situation further. He allegedly dealt with serious medical issues because of the pressure and was also suffering from panic attacks due to the stress.

Has Danny retired from pro play?

Although it hasn’t been explicitly said that he has retired from professional League play, Danny is now a content creator with EG. There is a chance that he could return to the stage, but after having to deal with so many different issues, it is unlikely that he comes back any time soon.