According to a tweet from well-known play-by-play caster Aaron “Medic” Chamberlain, Riot Games will not be using LEC talent for this year’s League of Legends World Championship. In the tweet, Medic justifies his choice by emphasizing the recent mental and emotional tiredness he has been feeling, as well as the difficulties of Covid, internet casts, and life in general.
Since 2017, the British broadcaster has become a mainstay at LEC and international League competitions like Worlds and MSI. It is just one of several occasions in the past few years where a caster has declined to take part in a significant event while citing the stress of their line of work. It is well known that popular LCS commentator Clayton “CaptainFlowers” Raines declined to cast events like MSI 2022 and Worlds 2021 for comparable reasons.
Similar remarks have been made by Isaac “Azael” Cummings. In an interview with Inven Global last year, Azael said, “Obviously, I still devote the majority of my time to my profession, but it’s something that I just think has made it feel more sustainable.”
“Because I discussed this with a group of casters a few years back. We’re at an MSI, and as I turned around, I said: Can you see yourself doing this for another 30 years? The average age of retirement is 65, 30-35. Could you do this? And literally, everyone was just an instant no. Because people are so stressed. And people are so just psyched out a lot of times by the pressure that they feel working these events, having criticism from fans, and pressure to perform and do really well or maybe be replaced by someone else coming up.”