Veteran Counter-Strike pro Jonatan “Devilwalk” Lundberg is retiring, the player announced today. Lundberg cited his wrists as an ongoing health issue and made no indication whether would return to the game, only that he “will be focusing on [his] health from now on.”
Lundberg has a history of acquiring silverware, and in 2015 became the only person to win a major as a player at Dreamhack Winter 2013 and then as a coach at ESL One Katowice in 2015.
After this feat, Lundberg took the bold decision to leave the lineup and once again pursue a career as a player. After a stay in 1337, he journeyed to North America, where he featured for Luminosity, a team that would go on to be Mythic and then Winterfox. Despite some promising performances, Lundberg never truly seemed to find his feet in North America and headed home after a few months.
The Swedish player most recently played for Team Ancient, an all-Swedish lineup formed by former Fnatic captain Markus “Pronax” Wallsten. That team has failed to achieve any good tournament results.
There has been an outpouring of well wishes from some of the biggest names in Counter-Strike on Twitter, including his former Fnatic teammates. Jesper “JW” Wecksell commented “Coachwalk comeback? Hope you get better!”
Whether a return in any capacity is on the cards remains to be seen, but Swedish fans will be hoping to see Lundberg in one form of another in the future. For now, however, Lundberg will be focusing on his health.
Photo by Helena Kristiansson via ESL/Flickr (All rights reserved, used with permission)