system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5:why do pro gamers retire in their early 20's? Do your reflexes really drop so significantly that early in life?
gpt
Several reasons:

1) you don't really make that much money.  Only top players make the big money.  For every guy making over $100k a year, there are hundreds who don't.  It's kind of like the acting industry.  The top 1% of actors make huge money, the other 99% are broke.  At some point these guys realize they will never be a top player and they can make more money doing something else.

2) it not all fun and games, it is a job.  These guys play the same game every day for 12+ hours a day to be as good as they are.  Just imagine that.  It would get real boring, really quickly.  Also, they are not playing to have fun, they are playing to win.  They only get paid when they win, so there is a lot of stress to win.  Even if these guys are on contract with guaranteed pay, they are always at risk of losing that contract if their performance slips or if the team finds a better player to replace them.

3) medical reasons.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Carpal tunnel syndrome is real and extremely painful.  Using all those fine motor skills in the hand can actually damage the muscles and tendons in the hand.  Our hands were not designed to use the fine motor muscle constantly for hours on end.  Also, the pressure and constant stress to win takes a physical toll on the body.

4) games change.  Most professional gamers specialize in 1 or maybe 2 games.  After a few years, and as new games come out, older games stop getting media coverage and the prize money for their tournaments drop.  In some cases, tournaments cease to exist for that game and there is no more demand.  If you are lucky, your chosen game will have several iterations (like Halo or COD) that only have minor changes as each new version comes out.  If not, there is no guarantee that you will be as good at a different game.

5) At some point, you want a normal life.  You want to be able to date, get married, have kids, etc.  You need a stable career and free time to do this.