LoL: Perkz announces his retirement at 26

Luka "Perkz" Perković announced his retirement from professional play at the age of 26 in a long video shared on his account on Thursday, June 5. He also revealed that he is going to become a father, marking a new chapter in his life. The Croatian legend won a dozen trophies, mainly in Europe with G2 Esports but also in the LCS NA with Cloud9. The peak of his career came with the MSI 2019 title and a Worlds 2019 final appearance with the Samurai.

Perkz began his professional career in 2015 with Gamers2, competing in the EUCS Summer where the team finished third. They later qualified for the EU LCS through the promotion tournament. Shortly after, the team rebranded to G2 Esports and immediately found success, winning the 2016 EU LCS Spring Split and qualifying for their first international event, MSI. That same year, they also won the Summer Split and made their first Worlds appearance — a spectacular rookie season for both G2 and Perkz.

In 2017, G2 repeated their regional dominance by winning the Spring Split again and making it to the MSI final, where they fell to Lee "Faker" Sang-hyeok and SKT T1. They went on to win the Summer Split as well, marking four consecutive domestic titles. The 2018 season was less successful regionally, but G2 had their first international breakout, reaching the semifinals of the World Championship before falling to EDward Gaming.

2019 marked a turning point in Perkz’s career. The longtime midlaner transitioned to the AD Carry role to make room for Rasmus "Caps" Winther, who joined from Fnatic. The result was the most successful year of his career. G2 won both the Spring and Summer Splits of the newly branded LEC, and claimed the MSI title with a dominant 3-0 victory over Team Liquid in the final. Their historic run continued at Worlds, defeating DAMWON Gaming in the quarterfinals and SKT T1 in the semifinals, before falling 3-0 to FunPlus Phoenix and Kim "Doinb" Tae-sang in the grand final.

In 2020, G2 continued their regional reign, winning the Spring Split with Caps as ADC and Perkz back in mid. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the MSI was cancelled. G2 then won the Summer Split again after Perkz and Caps swapped roles once more, further cementing their European dominance. At Worlds, they reached the semifinals but lost to DAMWON Gaming.

In a surprising move, Perkz joined Cloud9 in the LCS for 2021, winning the Mid-Season Showdown but falling short of expectations for the rest of the year. He later played for Team Vitality and then Team Heretics, but was never quite able to return to his former glory.

In early 2025, he roleswapped once again and joined The Ruddy Sack in the NLC as a toplaner, a stint that ended in disappointment. Perkz himself admitted to having regrets about the final appearances of his career. Despite the late-career struggles, Perkz retires as one of Europe’s greatest players — a multiple-time domestic champion, MSI winner, and Worlds finalist who helped shape an era of Western League of Legends.

Header photo credit: LEC/Riot Games