British Call of Duty pro "Hicksy" announces retirement

12 August 2025

After more than seven years in the amateur and professional Call of Duty circuit, British prodigy Charlie “Hicksy” Hicks has announced his retirement from international and UK esports. The announcement was made recently by the player himself, just a few weeks after competing at the Esports World Cup Call of Duty Bo6 tournament with American organisation FiveYears. Since then, it has rained tributes and heartfelt messages from other players and fans from the global Call of Duty community.

One of Britain’s best

Charlie “Hicksy” Hicks was born on October 25th, 1999, in London and started playing Call of Duty at a serious level about 7,5 years ago. During the first years of his career, he was mainly active at Challenger level. It was in 2022, after joining Canadian esports organisation Toronto Ultra, when he finally managed to make his dream come true: breaking through to the Call of Duty League, the premier franchise esports league for Call of Duty at a global level.

Initially though, Hicksy was added to the Toronto Ultra as a substitute player and it would take another year or so before he would be promoted to the main roster. The Englishman did not fail to make an impact right off the bat, as he went on to win the Call of Duty League 2023 Major 3, his first-ever professional LAN tournament. This victory earned him and the rest of Toronto Ultra no less than $ 200.000 in prize money, which comes down to about £ 148.696.

More than $ 344.000 in career earnings

While that was the highlight of his professional at that point, Hicksy would go on to achieve even more impressive feats soon after. In his last tournament with Toronto Ultra, the Call of Duty League 2023: Playoffs, he reached second place, bagging a cool $ 660.000 (around £ 490.695) for his organisation, the highest tournament earnings of his career.
While there is no official figure yet, Hicksy’s own career prize money reportedly surpasses the $ 340.000 mark. That comes down to about £ 252.782, of which the largest part was earned as part of Toronto Ultra. Before his retirement, the Brit also spent brief periods with OMiT EU and previously mentioned FiveYears.

Emotional farewell

“Lived it. Loved it. Farewell beautiful game”, Hicksy wrote on his own X account on August 7th, “In all seriousness, i think it’s time for me to step away from playing Call of Duty. It was a dream of mine growing up to be able to compete against the players i watched every single day, but i never truly believed i would make it, even slightly […] I’d like to thank my family for being so supportive, especially during some of the tough times, and all of my teammates and supporters for making the journey so enjoyable. I’ve made friends that will last a lifetime, and that is truly the best part of it all. Although I’m filled with sadness that it’s over, i keep reminding myself that as one door closes, another opens, and I’m looking forward to whatever is next for me.”