RamBeau Speaks About His Apex Legends Retirement & Joining DarkZero Esports
- RamBeau goes into detail about the struggles he was having finding the passion to play while dealing with family issues at home, including the loss of his grandmother.
- He had been considering retirement since joining The Guard and had planned to play through the rest of the season. RamBeau claims he was transparent with his team about this.
- Joining DarkZero Esports was not premeditated, RamBeau claims, nor was it a decision influenced by money. It was a chance to play with some of the best in the game, something he didn’t want to regret missing out on.
If you’ve been paying attention to the Apex Legends Global Series these past couple weeks, you know that the saga of Beau "RamBeau" Sheidy and his retirement has a lot of people talking. Since joining DarkZero Esports, his retirement and quick return has people sharing their opinions from both sides of the spectrum, with other pros showing him support and others still disappointed in his choices. On the night of April 17th, RamBeau joined ALGS Caster and Analyst Jon “Falloutt” Kefaloukos on his Twitch Channel for an exclusive interview detailing his side of the story.
Why did Rambeau Retire?
RamBeau originally announced his retirement with a TwitLonger post on his Twitter on March 28th just before the mid-season break for the Apex Legend Pro League. In his explanation he cited reasons for his retirement as a lack of passion for the game and family issues including a recent death.
In his interview with Falloutt he goes further in-depth into these issues, citing that his plans for retirement have been sometime in the making and even go back as far as when he played for The Guard. “It’s no secret to them [Sentinels] I’ve been talking about retiring from Apex for [...] I was telling Cole about after Champs even, later in the year last year,” RamBeau explained. He goes to say that this was likely going to be his final season playing in the ALGS.
But the issues at home with his family put added stress on the Apex Legends star that forced him to make a tough decision. He talks about the recent death of his grandmother, how his grandfather has been through multiple surgeries and his father was recently admitted to rehab.
He admitted that all of these issues and the stress that comes along with them was affecting his gameplay and mental focus. Watching his mother struggle with these same issues and wanting to be able to support her was another issue that ultimately led to RamBeau’s decision to retire early.
Joining DarkZero Esports
Just two weeks after his retirement, while competing in Realm SoloQ Tournament Series, RamBeau was spotted in North American scrims with DarkZero. The next day, he announced he would be joining the roster of back-to-back champions.
To the public, it looked like the retirement was a cover to get out of his contract with a team that wasn’t performing well and joining another team that had very high chances of placing in the top 5 of the Apex Pro League and going the distance at the Playoffs and Championship.
In a round-table discussion with Falloutt, Apex Pros Phillip "ImperialHal" Dosen and Eric "Snip3down" Wrona both had negative things to say on behalf of RamBeau’s choices including Hal mentioning that he had lost respect for the player.
RamBeau holds no ill-will towards anyone with those perceptions as he admits the way he handled the situation was poor. “I don’t regret making my decision, I regret how I handled it. I should’ve been up front with Keon and Cole right away. [...] I owe them the deepest apologies. I understand how they would feel about the situation and how it looks. [...] I know it looks like shit what I did, it looks horrible.”
Why Did RamBeau Join DarkZero?
In response to a comment made by Snip3down about RamBeau streaming Apex Legends the day after his retirement and participating in Realm, RamBeau clarified that his retirement was never from Apex Legends or streaming. It was the competitive scene that he had lost the passion for. But he admits that playing in Realm was a different experience to the ALGS as well as the traditional Ranked grind in normal Apex. Realm helped him rediscover his love for the game and he used it as
This renewed passion in Realm and Apex did not make him want to compete again, but the offer from DarkZero Esports came soon after.
Despite the terrible optics of joining DarkZero Esports only two weeks after his retirement, RamBeau claims it was not a premeditated move. He asserts that no team was in contact with him while he was playing for the Sentinels. It wasn’t until a week and a half after his retirement that Jamison “PVPX” Moore, coach of DarkZero Esports, reached out to him after seeing how well he was performing in Realm.
After a talk with his mother, RamBeau said it was her that helped to convince him to join DarkZero as she didn’t want him to regret not trying later in his life. Playing with a roster of back-to-back champions was too good of an opportunity to pass up.
RamBeau also opened up about the fact that he’s not currently signed to DarkZero Esports. He’s simply filling in for the remainder of the Apex Pro League. He has no guarantee that he’ll be playing with them in the ALGS Split 2 Playoffs or the Championship should they qualify. He admitted that despite what some people might think, this isn’t about money.
“I want people to know I was making very, very, very good money on Sentinels. [...] I could’ve stayed on it [Sentinels Contract] and just made money and sat on my ass.”
To watch the full one hour long video, check out the VOD on Falloutt’s Twitch Channel.
