Mathieu “Maniac” Quiquerez is retiring, after being a professional CS:GO player for over six years. He announces his retirement in a TwitLonger post, saying that he’s leaving his current team LDLC and won’t be returning as a player.

“Today I close a chapter of my life by officially retiring as a CS:GO professional player. This has been a very emotional and well thought decision but I feel at peace with it now,” says Maniac. “Most importantly, thanks to CS, I have grown as a person. I have learned to question myself continually, to experience failure and to bounce back, to set expectations and work hard for it.”

Maniac went all the way to the quarterfinals and semifinals in two Valve Majors with LDLC. He then joined Titan in 2014. Him signing with Titan meant they went head-to-head with the original Ninjas in Pyjamas lineup when they were CS:GO’s best team.

However, his last major tournament success was September of 2014. Titan defeated LDLC at DreamHack Stockholm, but it wasn’t without controversy. Maniac’s teammate Hovik “KQLY” Tovmassian was found cheating, and Valve permanently banned KQLY from official Valve events. Titan also missed DreamHack Winter 2014 because of KQLY’s actions.

Maniac has since mostly been a coach, as well as a player, for mostly French teams. He made his international debut with Rogue in 2016. Maniac eventually reunited with former Titan teammate Kévin “Ex6TenZ” Droolans on LDLC.

It will be hard to say goodbye to Maniac; he has been one of the most respected veterans in the CS:GO scene. It’s especially hard as he’s been around since the early days of the game’s pro scene.

For Maniac’s full statement, you can click here.

(Source: Dot Esports)