December 21. Stefano “Verbo” Disalvo. Verbo left school to go all-in on Blizzard Entertainment’s popular team-based first-person shooter game named Overwatch.
And he had multiple, multiple first-place wins in online gaming—along with the fame and money that came with. Here’s a 2017 tweet from Verbo: “It is not confidence from within myself, but confidence in him who will strengthen me and provide the skills needed to perform his will.” On this date in 2016, Verbo joined the Immortals, a massive gaming organization.
Success is not defined by your status, but by who you are as a person.
It started with a Game Boy and a computer he had gotten from his mom, but when he saw competitive online gaming, Verbo knew that’s where he wanted to be.
What started as a hobby turned into a professional e-sports career. And—for the popular video game Overwatch—Verbo became known as one of the best support players in the world. Disalvo’s gamer name is “Verbo” and means “word of God.”
Verbo’s career took off. Wins and championship titles in the Overwatch League added to his already impressive resume. His testimony and story spread through interviews and articles on an international level.
Despite his youth, Verbo was at the top of his game. He was climbing up the mountain and going higher and higher in his status as a gamer.
But after a year and a half, things started to change. Wins started to become losses. Championships were lost. Fame began to wane. And as new, talented players joined the league, Verbo found himself struggling to keep up.
The losses shook Verbo’s confidence. When he won, he felt happy. When he did his best and inspired other players, he saw his life as successful. But when he lost, he found his joy weakened. When his performance wasn’t the best, his confidence turned into insecurity.
Verbo’s desire in Overwatch was to shine in the spotlight for God. He wanted to use his talents and gifts for a good cause, so why was he no longer finding success?
The inner turmoil weighed heavy on his heart, and the mountains he used to climb so high now led him down into a valley. Verbo wondered if he had made a mistake in placing such a high priority on his stats and performance as a gamer.
In the end, the world’s definition of success didn’t bring him joy. It didn’t allow him to see himself as a valuable person. It didn’t give him anything he could count on.
Verbo’s career proved that the world’s version of success was always changing. Wins and high scores were never guaranteed, and talent could be found in plenty of places.
Things like career, material possessions, appearance, even the people in his life—all of those could change. If success was based on something that could be taken away, was the foundation he had built his identity on really that stable?
Verbo realized he needed to re-define success and find his identity in something more stable.
Success had to be tied to who he was as a man.
Character—he had plenty of that. Hard work. Integrity. Motivation. And most importantly, Christ.
Verbo didn’t find the change easy, especially after he had been used to so much winning. He had to be consistent in his decision and focus. He had to ask himself what was really important to him. Why he was competing?
He also found a new way to cope with the losses: they weren’t obstacles any more. They were his new stepping stones to growth. They could be accepted, even welcomed.
“A firm understanding of who I am is what keeps me grounded and content,” he said. “Navigating through ups and downs of my career is knowing to enjoy and cherish the ups, but also to be humble enough to ride the process of the lows, and to grow as much as possible.”
Verbo decided to stay in the Overwatch League, working as a team general manager. And now he can take the lessons he’s learned and help the men on his team grow, too. “Success for me is using what I’ve learned in the highs and lows of my past experiences to push the guys on the team I’m managing forward.”
“My performance doesn’t define who I am,” he said. Instead, it became about who he was as a person, how he loved others, and the God who loved him—whether he won or lost. And with his confidence more secure than ever, Verbo knew he had finally found true success.
“Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew NIV 21–:196).
Many struggles are the result of the wrong definition of success. Success is not defined by your status but by who you are as a person. Where do you need a new definition?
Based on an interview with Stefano “Verbo” Disalvo, August 8, 2019.
Disalvo, Stefano “Verbo”. “Where Do We Place Identity?” YouTube. July 31, 2018. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7zHvu_I1jQ.
Story read by Joel Carpenter
Would You Like to Learn More About This Man?
Verbo credits his success in gaming and in life to his faith. He says that through what he learned at church, he was able to succeed during a tough period in his life.
“Verbo” in Latin or Italian or Spanish means “word” and Verbo thinks of it as “The Word of God.”