Top 'Call of Duty' Player NaDeSHoT Stepping Down? Reason & Other Details Here!

Matthew "NaDeShot" Haag is stepping down from competitive gaming.

Yahoo! Sports reported that after OpTic, a top team playing "Call of Duty," competitively lost at the "Call of Duty Championships" earlier in April 2015, Haag is leaving as captain of the team, but only temporarily. OpTic finished in seventh place, raking in $8,750 in the process. Haag is a part-owner of the team and felt accountable for their mediocre finish. Kotaku reported that OpTic was knocked out of the winners' bracket in the first round and made it up to the third round of losers' bracket.

Based on a report by International Business Times, NaDeShot posted a YouTube video on April 4, stating, "If you asked me two months ago if I was going to be making a video like this, I'd have told you you were absolutely crazy. Things change, people change, situations change. I'm going to be taking a break from 'Call of Duty,' a leave of absence if you will."

Haag said, "I felt my passion to win wasn't high enough to compete at this level. I felt like I was playing to not lose. I wasn't playing to win, so I wouldn't hear the repercussions of it on my Twitter and YouTube channel for the next week."

He added, "If we were to pursue another player who has more drive to win, and maybe even more talent, they [OpTic] would have a better chance to win."

He added in the same Yahoo! Sports report, "I'm kinda tired of being the scapegoat for the team. If we're not winning, I know that everyone's coming after me. I felt my attitude and drive to win was holding back the team."

NaDeShot has been a professional gamer for six years and became the captain of OpTic's in 2014. In December 2014, Haag was named "eSports player of the year" at the inaugural Game Awards. His annual earnings in 2014, consisting of prizes and sponsorships, were estimated to be around $1 million. He has over 1 million Twitter followers and 1.7 million YouTube subscribers.

Haag, however, assured fans that he will be coming back. He said that he was very confident that he will revisit his competitive roots and compete for a "Call of Duty" title in the future. He said that he might only leave for a short while, considering the possibility of playing within "Advanced Warfare".

In the meantime, Haag shared that he was going to spend his free time creating daily video blogs for fans. He will also continue playing "H1Z1" and "Minecraft" on his channel.