Austin ‘SlasheR’ Liddicoat has officially stepped back from competing in the Call of Duty League. This revelation comes after the 31-year-old secured multiple Major wins and a world championship title over a career spanning more than a decade. The veteran player made the announcement a few weeks into the 2026 CDL season, stepping down from the Carolina Royal Ravens.
In a recent stream, SlasheR went deep into why he retired, revealing that the competitive scene just wasn’t fun anymore. He stressed that the ‘new age’ competitors don’t have the same mindset, and he’s fed up with playing for the sake of playing.
SlasheR Leaves a Phenomenal Legacy
SlasheR has been one of the most impactful and stalwart players in the Call of Duty League over the years. At the time of his retirement, he was the most senior player in the scene and still putting up numbers.
His tenure at the topmost tier of Call of Duty esports saw him transition through some of the most prestigious teams in the space, including:
- FaZe Clan / Atlanta FaZe
- Denial
- Envy
- 100 Thieves / LA Thieves
- OpTic
In 2016, he won the CWL Championship while flying the Envy banner, fighting alongside JKap, John, and Apathy, all of whom have long since retired or moved on to content creation and coaching.
While streaming recently, SlasheR explained:
I started thinking about it over the… Honestly, even when we were practicing every day, I started thinking about it. It just wasn’t fun anymore. I feel like the way I approach practice and everything is very serious. Obviously, I want to have fun too, but I’m way more serious with it than a lot of the new-age kids.
It felt to me like a waste of time. We weren’t getting better, we were just playing to play, where I want to get better. I want to go hard every day. I was just like, ‘What’s the point of continuiing to Major I if I’m not enjoying it?’
He explained that he was only playing this long because he was still qualifying for LAN events, because the ‘online shit was just never fun’ for him.
SlasheR also admitted that he hasn’t been ‘enjoying the games’, which is an unfortunate sentiment echoed by many pro players these days. The state of Call of Duty isn’t encouraging, and the reception of Black Ops 7 has been an all-time low.
Exceed will move up to take SlasheR’s spot on the Carolina Royal Ravens.
Are you sad to see the back of SlasheR for now? Let us know what you’re thinking on the Insider Gaming Discord server.
For more Insider Gaming coverage, check out the news that Faker has received a prestigious medal in South Korea
Grant has been gaming for 30+ years and in the industry for 10+. You'll probably find him playing a post-apocalyptic game or an extraction shooter somewhere.
More from Grant Taylor-Hill
