Last night, Valorant fans throughout the world found themselves cheering in unison when Jaccob “yay” Whiteaker was awarded the Esports PC Player of the Year at The Game Awards 2022.
The 24-year-old Valorant pro managed to come out on top in the heavily contested category that included legends like Lee “Faker” Sang-hyeok, Oleksandr “s1mple” Kostyliev, Jeong “Chovy” Ji-hoon, and Finn “karrigan” Andersen.
“It’s crazy to be selected among so many other talented hard-working individuals in esports so I am forever grateful,” yay said in a Twitter post following his victory. “All I can say is thank you to the community and all the people who I’ve met that helped me here now.”
Yay’s win in the ‘Best Esports Athlete’ category doesn’t come as much of a surprise, though. Renowned for his incredible mechanical skills, the former OpTic Gaming star played a crucial role in his team’s victory at the VCT 2022: Stage 1 Masters – Reykjavík while also helping his team land a second-place finish at the prestigious Valorant Champions 2022.
Following OpTic’s failure to secure a franchising spot in the official VCT league for 2023, yay was signed by Cloud9, and is currently a member of their active Valorant roster alongside Nathan “leaf” Orf, Erick “Xeppaa” Bach, Anthony “vanity” Malaspina, and Jordan “Zellsis” Montemurro.