Bleed Esports Yay to take a temporary break from Valorant Esports

One of the star players for Bleed Esports, Jaccob “Yay” Whiteaker has announced stepping down from the competitive Valorant scene temporarily amidst health issues. While the issue hasn’t been disclosed, the esports org awaits his return and has promised their full support.

“After concluding the first split, yay has decided to take a temporary break for health reasons before coming back to competing. We fully support his decision to prioritize his wellness, and we're all excited for more yay once he's back in the zone,” Bleed Esports wrote in their post.

As per Bleed Esports’ CEO, ‘Health and wellness are at the forefront of our priorities at BLEED’. He also displayed his support from Yay during tough times. It is currently unknown when will Yay make a comeback, however, the player saw overwhelming support from his fans who encouraged him to focus on his health.

Health and wellness are at the forefront of our priorities at BLEED. @yay will be missed as he gets back to 100%, but he has our full support throughout this return.



Please be kind through this process and make sure to send him your support! https://t.co/rbokqYNAcd

— BLEED IAN (@IanEsports) May 13, 2024

Yay facing issues one after another

This is also not the first time yay have taken a break due to medical issues. Back in February, during the Valorant One Pro Invitational, the player said that he experienced blurry vision during the game that affected his performance after they were knocked out of the VCT Pacific Kickoff.

Before joining Bleed Esports, he was part of Disguised for a short two-month period before joining his current team. During this time, he has not seen any major achievements and has only seen a single win against DetonatioN FocusMe.

Furthermore, he also recently saw accusations of being a toxic player by his former teammate Genghsta from Disguised. He posted a clip where Yay was seemingly frustrated by the performance of his team, while also accusing him of bribing the coach to bench him.

All of these combined could have taken a toll both physically and mentally on Yay, leading to non-consistent performance, leading to him taking a break. Bleed Esports is yet to announce his replacement player.