VALORANT star yay is taking a temporary leave of absence from professional play after several controversies and an unsatisfactory run in the VCT 2024 Pacific league’s first split. His organization, BLEED Esports, cited “health reasons” as the leading factor behind yay’s decision and pledged its support for the 25-year-old star.
This is the second time yay has taken a hiatus from VALORANT while at BLEED; after joining the team in September 2023, he stepped back just before the VALORANT ONE Pro Invitational, also due to “unforeseen health issues.”
“Health and wellness are at the forefront of our priorities at BLEED,” the org’s chief operating officer Ian Huston said on X (formerly Twitter) earlier today. “Yay will be missed as he gets back to 100 percent, but he has our full support throughout this return.”
Yay’s latest decision to temporarily step away from his professional VALORANT career comes after Bleed’s disheartening performance in VCT Pacific’s first split, which broke the hopes of many fans. The roster lost five series while winning just one. In fact, Bleed’s only win against DetonatioN FocusMe marked yay’s first competitive victory in the year since he exited Cloud9 in the 2023 season. It gave fans a reason to believe again, though that early faith was shattered after Bleed lost series against Paper Rex and DRX right after.
Besides his dipping pro-VALORANT career, yay was also recently tied up in a major controversy that involved retired pro Amgalan “Genghsta” Nemekhbayar accusing him of being a difficult teammate and bribing coach OCEAN during his stint in Disguised.
In February, yay revealed he had been dealing with blurry vision, allegedly costing his team crucial rounds against Global Esports at the VCT Pacific Kickoff. The latest announcement, however, hasn’t indicated if that is the issue. Bleed was clear it will wait for his comeback. The roster doesn’t have a sixth man, so the org will now be scrambling to find a replacement before the second split begins.
Yay has yet to share any official comments on his break.
