Maxim is one of the best-known German commentators of League of Legends. For about 8 years, he has been commentating tournaments, but after Worlds 2021, he plans to stop his full-time work. He cites a reduced connection to LoL and more time for his family as reasons.
Who is stopping with commentary?
- Maxim “Maxim” Markow is a full-time commentator for League of Legends and runs a YouTube channel with 650,000 subscribers on the side.
- His career started with ESL School Championships and the Dr Pepper Cup at gamescom 2013. He also created guide videos and patch overviews for LoL.
- Later, he worked full-time as a shoutcaster for League of Legends and commented in German on the LEC and the World Championships. He continued to run both his YouTube and a Twitch channel.
- However, Worlds 2021 is supposed to be his last major tournament, as he explained in a video.
Connection to the game is lacking, and family becomes more important
Why is Maxim stopping? In his video, Maxim explains that there are several reasons why he is stopping shouting. One important reason is that he no longer “feels the game”:
Because I now comment much less […], I engage even less with LoL and also play less, I lack the connection. I have broken down my basic knowledge, and I don’t feel the game anymore.
Maxim further explains that he is not as passionate as he used to be. This makes him dissatisfied with his performance and the hype surrounding his persona.
Maxim expects no more surprises: As a second reason, Maxim mentions that he only has professional goals that currently seem out of reach:
Another point is, of course, that – and that’s again unprofessional of me – I have little hope of seeing anything new as a commentator. It’s a bit weird because LoL is constantly changing, but what I mean is that we have a different winner. […].
My personal dream was actually to stop last year if G2 Esports had won in 2019 and TSM would have won Worlds in 2020. That’s of course a meme, but then I would have seen everything. […].
These are basically the maximum professional goals I can have. And that hope has been taken from me.
Furthermore, the commentator explains that he is using the time to enjoy it with family.
This has often been lacking in recent years and is the actually most important reason why he is stopping casting.
“My whole life revolved around LoL”
How does Maxim describe his work? Shouting for LoL was more than just a dream for him. But for years, his whole world revolved only around LoL:
Life is super beautiful right now. I can’t even remember that I was in Berlin 5 days a week, casted a lot, and then spent the whole weekend cutting videos, and then basically was back in Berlin.
However, he has now gotten older and enjoys the time with family in Leipzig. That is “more valuable than all the fuss before”. Since he has already slowed down with LoL, his life is becoming more positive, and his resting heart rate has clearly relaxed.
Does Maxim leave a caster gap? Maxim is not worried about the future of the German LoL scene. He explains that there are now enough new commentators who can adequately replace him.
It makes him “super happy” that there are so many other shoutcasters who invest their time in LoL as intensely as he actually should have.
Is Maxim completely quitting commentary? No, he just won’t be casting full-time anymore.
For now, he will remain as a backup in case other commentators fall ill. Additionally, Maxim wants to continue commenting on special events.
At major tournaments like Worlds, however, he will likely only be heard this year.
Do you watch the German stream of League of Legends, or do you only watch in English? And if you watch the German stream, will you miss Maxim? Feel free to write it in the comments.
The Worlds 2021 had a small scandal. A player was banned during the tournament:
Riot Games bans 18-year-old from the LoL Worlds 2021 – won the game, lost everything
