League of Legends: Dignitas' Chinese-American jungler Lawrence Xu (ID: eXyu) unexpectedly announced his retirement..

League of Legends professional esports club Dignitas' Chinese-American jungler Lawrence Xu (ID: eXyu), has unexpectedly announced his retirement on Wednesday via his official X (Twitter) account.

According to Lawrence's official statement, after confirmation of his impending benching, he decided to end his six-year professional League of Legends esports career and return to university. He also revealed that he will switch tracks to focus on playing Teamfight Tactics / Riftbound concurrently.

Although he considers his six-year career not particularly successful, he is very grateful to everyone who encouraged and supported him. This experience will forever hold a special place in his heart.

Lawrence wrote: "Six years have passed since I dropped out of school and decided to pursue a career in professional League of Legends esports. While my career hasn't been entirely as I envisioned, I'm still incredibly grateful for all the ups and downs I've experienced in this lifestyle."

"That said, this chapter of my life is coming to an end. I plan to return to school this spring while focusing on Teamfight Tactics / Riftbound (I'm super excited about it)."

"Thank you all for your support over the past few years; it has meant a lot to me!"

Following Lawrence's announcement of his retirement, Dignitas responded by wishing him all the best for the future and thanking him for his past contributions to the team.

Dignitas also confirmed that Lawrence's vacancy will be filled by American player Dardoch.

About Lawrence Xu

Lawrence, 24 years old, was born on December 14, 2001, in the United States. In 2000, he resolutely decided to drop out of the University of California, Berkeley to become a professional League of Legends esports player.

At the time, he joined Cloud9 (C9) and Dignitas's academy teams as a rookie, earning a spot in the Tier-2 league thanks to his aggressive jungling style.

Dignitas became a turning point in his career: a few months later, he made his LCS debut for the team, only to be relegated to the secondary league, before being promoted again.

Afterwards, he returned to the North American Challenger League (NACL) Tier-2 league.

Before the season started, Dignitas unexpectedly replaced him with Lu Mingyi (ID: Spica), a decision that sparked controversy. Lawrence stated at the time that "nothing in esports is a given," and claimed that despite assurances of a guaranteed spot on the next season's roster, he was ultimately benched, leading to his decision to leave Dignitas.

After a year in the Tier-2 league, he returned, this time joining another struggling club, Disguised. Unfortunately, like Dignitas, Disguised also faced difficulties that year.

The following year, Lawrence's decision to return to Dignitas surprised many. However, after two similar splits, Lawrence ultimately ended his relationship with the team, and even with the professional League of Legends esports scene where he had worked diligently for six years.

Image source: Internet / Xu Lin (ID: eXyu) Official X (Twitter) Account