When parents impose an internet ban, it makes gaming difficult. However, a Overwatch pro has managed to stand up against his creators.
When it comes to the passion for video games, parents often have little understanding of the time their son or daughter invests in this hobby. After all, all that nice time could also be spent on “meaningful” activities. What could become of the offspring if he didn’t game for 8 hours every day but instead focused his time on studying!
That’s probably how the parents of Stefano Disalvo saw it, who is better known in Overwatch as “Verbo“. He mainly plays Lúcio for the eSports team “Immortals”, one of the currently best teams in the world.
The tiny problem: He is only 17 years old and therefore practically still in the educational chokehold of his parents.
They didn’t think much of his plans, especially when Verbo decided he wanted to become a pro in this field.
eSports dreams worsened relationship with parents
The consequence was that his parents even cut him off from the internet. But that didn’t stop Verbo. Instead of gaming himself, he simply developed new strategies while visiting McDonald’s with Wi-Fi and also thought about what new tactics he could implement on the way to school.
The relationship with his parents has drastically worsened during this time.
“I was really close to my parents before they tried to stop me from becoming a pro. As I wanted to pursue eSport more seriously, our relationship slowly fell apart. I especially lost the connection with my mother. That was tough.”
He still pursued his plans and, to the surprise of most, he was successful. Ultimately, he even put pressure on his parents and gave them an ultimatum that he would not go to college after high school – two weeks later he was allowed to trial with Team Immortals and was then signed on.
In hindsight, he is even happy that his parents put him under so much pressure, as it gave him motivation.
“I can’t even be really mad at my parents. Before, I provided little evidence that eSports could be a success for me. If I hadn’t felt enough pressure, I might have lacked motivation.”
Since his success, his parents’ view has drastically changed. Where internet bans and house arrest used to serve as punishments, he is now supported and they take care of the flights to major tournaments.
“It’s really strange when you’re constantly told by your parents to ‘stop it’ and then encouraged by them to do even more.”
By the way, he is now taking online courses to make up for his high school diploma.
Want new skins in Overwatch? Then you currently need to play a few matches of Heroes of the Storm.
