Astralis chairman tried to create a new competitor to CSGO
Nikolaj Nyholm, former Astralis CEO and current Astralis Group chairman, had planned to raise funds in order to create an esports-ready competitive shooter title, according to a source close to the situation.
Registered in late September, the original venture was named Scattershot Ltd. before the sudden withdraw of Nyholm’s partner, CS 1.6 creator Minh Le left the planned fundraising venture while the programmer finishes development on Plan 8, the next game from Black Desert Online developer Pearl Abyss.
It was originally unclear as to whether Nyholm would continue on what was to be a first-person shooter on par with Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and Riot Games’ Valorant. According to another filing by Nyholm on October 7, the tech entrepreneur registered Scattershot Project B, a subsidiary of Scattershot Limited.
Nyholm is listed as the company’s sole director and owns a total of 75% of the company’s shares. While Scattershot Ltd. only claimed 100 GBP in capital, Nyholm ensured that he retained a majority of Project B’s voting shares. Counter-Strike
co-creator Le
has since made clear that he is no longer involved in the Scattershot project.
Astralis co-founder planned to create a first-person shooter esports title
Astralis may be on shaky ground despite the organization’s ESL Pro League Season 12 win in September.
With Astralis consolidating its holdings by rebranding League of Legends team Origen and pro-FIFA Esports roster Future FC under the Astralis name, it’s likely hoping to use its name as figurative collateral in exchange for sponsorship deals.
It makes sense for the Astralis co-founder to look for other avenues. Astralis has given ground since its initial offering in December 2019.
Despite an initial price of close to 9DKK, share prices have almost halved since Astralis’ IPO, closing at 4.77DKK on October 9.
Adding in another first-person shooter to an already crowded landscape would have been hard to pull off, but given Nyholm’s history of success while a member of Danish venture capital firm Sunstone Capital, fans of the Danish team shouldn’t sleep on the experienced investor.
M Alzamora
About M Alzamora
There are few things that writer M Alzamora loves more in life than Pokemon. And there are even fewer things that she loves more than her favorite Pokemon, Eevee. But M’s appreciation for gaming isn’t just limited to Nintendo’s famous pocket monsters. She’s interested in every type of game across every genre of gaming, and she has the credentials to prove it. M’s work has also been seen on Working Classicists and gaming sites.
View full profile
Read Also
News
The Esports Nations Cup Has Been Postponed to November 2027
Ben Boland
The 2026 Esports Nations Cup has been suspended until 2027. The Esports Foundation announced the delay on August 18, citing ongoing regional uncertainty. The inaugural competition was scheduled to take place in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, comprising over 100 national teams and featuring 16 different games, including League of Legends. According to the Esports Foundation, this decision follows ongoing developments in the region and consultation with key stakeholders. Moving the event ...
Esports Betting
MLBB is the most-watched game from the EWC, and it’s hard to see another game beating it
Michael Hassall
The Esports World Cup 2026 has officially passed its midway point and viewership figures for the tournament have surpassed many expectations so far, as per Esports Charts. The viewership tracking site revealed new statistics for the event on Aug. 6, showcasing just how many games had set new records in viewership, including one name leading the way in views: Mobile Legends: Bang Bang. MLBB leads the viewership charts with the ...
Counter-Strike
CS2 at the EWC 2026 Preview: Odds, Details, Predictions and More
Owen Harsono
Top-tier Counter-Strike action returns at the Esports World Cup, as 32 of the best teams will take the trip to Paris to compete for millions of dollars. If you’re looking to watch the event, here’s everything you need to know and which teams to keep an eye on. The Esports World Cup is one of the largest CS2 events if we’re looking at prize pools, as $2,000,000 will be distributed ...
News
Opinion: Is Esports Tracing the Same Evolutionary Path As Traditional Sports?
Cecilia Ciocchetti
What happens when an industry compresses centuries of sporting evolution into less than a decade or two? Communities become global audiences overnight, rivalries spread through social media within minutes, and tournaments turn into entertainment products faster than ever before. And so what took traditional sports centuries to build has taken esports a fraction of that. From local communities to sold out arenas, and from informal matches to Olympic-style events, the ...
Counter-Strike
BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-final predictions: who’s making it to the grand final?
Owen Harsono
The top four teams we’re seeing at the BLAST Bounty 2026 semi-finals are far from what anyone would expect before the tournament began, but here we are. We’re only three matches from crowning a winner, so let’s take a look at the best BLAST Bounty semi-final predictions for both upcoming matchups. Starting the semi-finals off is a banger of a series between FaZe Clan and Team Spirit, which is one ...
Counter-Strike
We Ranked The Top 5 Most Hated CS2 Maps
Owen Harsono
If you’re a Counter-Strike player, you probably have that one map you always ban first in every Premier game — and you're not alone as almost everyone has one too. Below, we’ll take a look at the most hated maps in Counter-Strike history and explain why they are disliked by the community at large. Anubis is one of the newer releases in the Counter-Strike 2 map pool, but it has ...
Counter-Strike
The Top 10 Best Clutches in Counter-Strike History Ranked
Owen Harsono
Pulling off an impossible clutch is one of the greatest hits of dopamine any Counter-Strike 2 player can ever feel. However, pulling them off at the highest level can be a little tricky since everyone is so coordinated. That’s exactly why mind-blowing clutches are remembered forever. Let’s take a trip down memory lane and look at the 10 best clutches in Counter-Strike history. We’re opening the list with former mousesports ...
